MANILA, Philippines - A military officer urged the Philippine National Police yesterday to recall the 100-strong PNP contingent deployed as security inside the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) compound in Tandang Sora, Quezon City.

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the INC started employing the security services of uniformed personnel during the Marcos regime.

He said the now defunct Philippine Constabulary (PC) granted the religious group’s request to put up a command post inside the INC compound.

“The number of uniformed personnel deployed on rotation basis inside the INC compound increased to around 100 through the years. It’s a legalized private army in there,” the official said.

According to the military official, the police officers tasked to secure the compound are all members of the INC and handpicked from various police units at Camp Crame.

“Since the PNP is now conducting an investigation of some INC leaders for the alleged kidnapping of its former ministers, the police leadership should recall the 100 police personnel deployed to the INC central office as well as their issued rifles,” he said.

He lamented that the PNP has lost control over these police officers as they were allegedly taking orders from the INC leadership and not from Camp Crame.

The PNP has been supplying the INC with the latest firearms and patrol cars for their own use.

“Ganoon kalakas ang INC sa government simula pa ng Marcos era (That’s how powerful the INC since the Marcos era),” he said.

The military official asked the PNP to investigate the Quezon City policemen tagged in the kidnapping of former INC minister Lowell Menorca in Sorsogon.

“It’s possible that these policemen were directly involved in the kidnapping of Menorca and his family. The police contingent must be disbanded immediately,” he said.

Demolition job

Perceiving the influential religious group as a threat to the victory of Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II in next year’s elections, a lawyer claimed that the Aquino government will allegedly launch a demolition job against INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo.

Ferdinand Topacio, an INC member, said President Aquino has an inkling that the INC will not support Roxas’ presidential bid in 2016.

“A source told me that the administration wants to prove that nothing can stand in its way. Those who oppose it cannot prevail,” Topacio said.

“They perceived us as a threat… They thought mabobokya sila sa mga ministers,” he added.

He said the INC leadership has yet to decide who to support in next year’s presidential elections.

Topacio said Aquino would order the filing of a complaint for serious illegal detention against Manalo in connection with the alleged kidnapping of Menorca and another expelled minister Isaias Samson Jr.

Menorca and Samson claimed they were held against their will by the INC advisory council with the help of some Quezon City policemen.

In a text message to The STAR, Topacio alleged that Aquino and Roxas are the ones funding the lawyer of the expelled ministers, who have surfaced and filed charges against the INC leaders.

Topacio was referring to lawyer Trixie Angeles, commissioner of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

He said Angeles was appointed by Aquino to the NCCA in 2012.

Angeles denied Topacio’s allegations.

“Mr. Topacio has no idea of what he is talking about. I was not appointed by the President, only the board members can appoint officials of the NCCA, which is an independent body,” Angeles told The STAR.

Case vs INC leaders

The petition for writs of habeas corpus and amparo filed by Menorca against INC leaders has become moot and academic, Quezon City Rep. Jose Christopher Belmonte said yesterday.

“The family of Menorca petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus (produce his body) and alleged that the INC had Menorca in their custody. Since he was free to hold a press conference (last Sunday), obviously he is not in their custody. So naturally, the issue is moot and academic and it should be dismissed,” Belmonte said.

Menorca has alleged that senior INC council members masterminded his kidnapping and three-month detention. He claimed that his kidnappers were Quezon City policemen, whom he accused of trying to kill him with a grenade.

A video showing him making the accusations has been posted on the Internet prior to his news conference.

Belmonte, a lawyer, said people who have watched the video should not jump to conclusions.

“He is saying that these ministers, who are supposed to be involved in saving souls, are now in the business of taking lives. These are serious allegations that are better tried in a court of law, not in the court of public opinion,” he said.

“Let’s be candid. If you watch the video in which he details his alleged kidnapping, your initial instinct is to demand that his captors be jailed. But that is not how the law works. The accused are presumed innocent, the burden of proof is on the accuser. In a courtroom, his allegations will be challenged and he will be asked to show evidence. He will have to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. It is not that simple,” he added.

With Menorca now speaking directly to the public, Belmonte said many would be confused “if the Court of Appeals junks the writs of amparo and habeas corpus, but that is exactly how the law works.”

“But because it’s natural to be sympathetic to Menorca because he is crying in the video. He looks pitiful. People will think the case was fixed if it were dismissed. That is the danger with new media,” he said.

“Don’t get me wrong. The Internet is an amazing medium that has allowed for the sharing of information at a pace never before imagined. However, there are real dangers, and we see that now in how quick the public has come to judge and condemn individuals or groups accused of wrongdoing,” Belmonte added.

He cited another example: that driver of a vehicle caught on video doing a counter-flow.

“People online condemned him for being abusive, until it came out that he was a doctor rushing to the hospital. But the judgments were fast and furious because there was no context,” he said.

Belmonte warned the public that the use of media, including Internet-based communications platforms, could violate basic rights like the presumption of innocence as well as the right to a fair trial. –With Jess Diaz