INC on Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez

Numerous articles from media came out when an ALLEGED report from Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas that the INC is supporting Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, that made many people give negative comments on the INC as "intervening" in the issue.

Here is an example of those reports:

MANILA, Philippines?All means are being exhausted to stop the looming impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in the House of Representatives lest former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo end up on trial, a senator said Sunday.
Ahead of this week?s vote, a high-ranking official of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) had been calling House members to kill the impeachment complaint, according to Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., chair of the justice committee.
?All efforts are being undertaken to abort the impeachment of Gutierrez because in effect it will be GMA (Arroyo) on trial,? Sen. Franklin Drilon said in an interview, referring to the former president, now a Pampanga lawmaker.
Drilon said the charges in the impeachment complaints?the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, the $329-million NBN-ZTE deal, and the Mega-Pacific contract?were linked to Arroyo, her husband Jose Miguel and their cronies.
?Even if it is Merceditas Gutierrez who will be the respondent in an impeachment, it will be in effect GMA on trial. All of the allegations are connected to her and her husband and her cronies,? said Drilon, a colleague of President Benigno Aquino III in the Liberal Party.
The House is set to vote in plenary this week on whether to approve the justice committee?s finding of probable cause to impeach Gutierrez and send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.
Gutierrez has been accused of inaction on a number of cases, particularly the scandals that marred the Arroyo administration, and of betraying public trust and violating the Constitution.
A lawmaker, who asked not to be named, said Gutierrez appeared to have the backing of the INC.
INC lawyer
Proof of this was the fact that she was represented in the House by former Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas, who acted as counsel for the INC a number of times, the lawmaker said.
?Serafin Cuevas indicates the hand of Iglesia ni Cristo. He is known to be the lawyer of Iglesia ni Cristo,? the lawmaker said. ?Merci has the full support of Iglesia.?
In the face of intense INC lobbying, members of the ruling Liberal Party remain positive of getting the one-third vote, albeit below the initial target of at least 150 votes or more than half of the House.
?The phone calls made by a high-ranking official of Iglesia ni Cristo to kill the impeachment case may affect the vote of some House members but we are still confident that we will get the required number of votes to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial,? Tupas said in a text message.
A House source, who requested anonymity, said the INC was egging some lawmakers to call in sick or leave after the roll call.
?That?s a game changer. The evidence of that (INC intervention) is so manifest. Last week, the proponents were boasting of a slam dunk. Today, they are now prefiguring that the battle will be tight,? said Isabela Rep. Georgidi Aggabao of the Nationalist People?s Coalition.
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, whose group is one of the complainants in the impeachment case, said the INC stand would have a minimal impact on the voting ?because it would be difficult for a congressman to be absent because all eyes are on us.?
Solon upset
Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello was upset that the INC would intervene in the business of Congress.
?Why are religious blocs crossing the line dividing the church and state, the INC in the case of the impeachment issue and the (Catholic) Church on reproductive health? Can?t these pressure groups stay on the sidelines and allow Congress to do its work?? asked Bello, whose group is the second complainant in the case.
Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, a member of the minority, found nothing wrong with the INC?s intervention. ?Everyone is a stakeholder in this,? she said.
Cavite Rep. Joseph E.A. Abaya, a key Liberal Party official in the House, said the vote could ?go either way.?
Mr. Aquino?s deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte, shrugged off reports that the Palace would withhold the pork barrel of lawmakers who would not support the impeachment of Gutierrez.
?It?s not the policy of the administration to use the pork barrel to sway (lawmakers) one way or the other,? Valte said. source: inquirer.net

But the question is: Does the alleged calls from a "high ranking" official of the INC to kill the impeachment TRUE? Did the INC really made the alleged "moves" on junking the impeachment case of the Ombudsman?

ANSWER: NO!


I will quote some:

"She refused to comment on the alleged protection given by the Iglesia ni Cristo, insisting that it was the black propaganda that brought her to where she is now." source: abscbnnews.com

“Maybe the INC just wants to remind Tupas that ours is still a government of laws and that hearings should be done with due process and that everybody should be afforded his right in accordance with the Constitution. In this way, lawmakers will at least be given a wake-up call,” said Davao del Sur Rep. Marc Douglas Cagas IV." source: journal.com

"PINABULAANAN ni Akbayan Party-list Representative Walden Bello ang balitang kumikilos ang Iglesia Ni Cristo upang hindi matuloy ang impeachment laban kay Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
Sa interview ng Radyo Mo Nationwide, sinabi ni Bello na may naririnig syang balita mula sa kanyang mga kapwa mambabatas na may nangyayaring gapangan mula sa nasabing grupo hinggil sa kaso ni Gutierrez sa nasabing grupo pero wala siyang personal na natanggap na abiso.
Hindi rin kinumpirma ni Bello ang balitang maging ang palasyo ay naghihimasok rin sa kaso ni Gutierrez." source: tatakrmn.com


“The Iglesia is following the issues in the House very closely because they are concerned that whatever decision that is made by the House affects the country,” said Marcoleta, the INC’s only member in the house.
“But it is never its policy to dictate on the House members. If indeed the calls were made, it was to urge the lawmakers and appeal to them to vote based on evidence, conviction and conscience.”
Marcoleta admitted that he, too, was asked by the Iglesia officials about the impeachment process, and if indeed there was “damning evidence” that could prove that Gutierrez “betrayed the public trust” as charged by rival leftist groups Akbayan and Bayan Muna in their impeachment complaints.
“I was reminded by the Iglesia that if I find damning evidence against Ombudsman Gutierrez and she is guilty of the charges, then I should vote for her impeachment,” Marcoleta said. source: manilastandardtoday.com

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As always, the INC was pushed in the bad light making nonmembers give opinions negatively about this. By these FALSE REPORTS from people who always want to pull the INC down, it is indeed VERY UNFAIR!

Even if the INC really support that Ombudsman, it is the INC's VOICE, its her OPINION, because the INC do not in anyway intervene in issues in POLITICS. Not what the Catholic Church is doing in the issue of RH BILL, what they do is undeniably called "INFLUENCING POLITICIANS".

To nonmembers who always accuse the INC of whatsoever they read on the news, VERIFY FIRST THE NEWS IF IT IS TRUE then, thats the only time for you all to make your OPINIONS!

As what Atty. Batas Mauricion said:

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “…You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor…” (Exodus 20:16, the Holy Bible).

LAWMAKERS MUST APOLOGIZE TO INC: Now that the House of Representatives finally impeached Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, 212-46, and set her up for trial by the Senate on charges that she betrayed public trust, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman and Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas should both apologize publicly to the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC).

It appears that the INC, known for its political clout because of bloc voting among its members, should not have been dragged by the two, after all, in the House impeachment proceedings, for the simple reason that both of them knew there was no such move by INC leaders, officials and members, and yet they kept on repeating it.

Falsely saying something is a violation of the Ten Commandments of God, as indicated in our Life’s Inspirations, and that is what Lagman and Tupas appeared to have done with respect to their claims against the INC. source: batasmedia.yolasite.com