Several senators on Monday denied that the influential Iglesia ni  Cristo (INC) approached them to lobby for the acquittal of Chief Justice  Renato Corona.
In separate interviews, Senators  Panfilo Lacson, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Gregorio Honasan belied  former Senate President Ernesto Maceda's claim that the Iglesia ni  Cristo is courting senators into voting against Corona's conviction.
Trillanes and Honasan likewise denied having any personal knowledge of any attempts.
Still, Honasan said that if Maceda had given such information, then they must look into it.
"Pag si former SP Maceda ang nagsalita, I guess we have to look deeper.  I’m not implying anything... but if Sen. Maceda has information, then I  guess we have to listen," he said.
Corona's camp had also earlier accused Executive Secretary Paquito  Ochoa Jr. of urging senator-judges not to honor the Supreme Court order  stopping them from examining Corona's dollar accounts. 
Jose Roy, one of the defense lawyers, even claimed that Malacañang had allotted P100 million for the "soft" projects of each senator-judge from the government's savings. 
Ochoa and several senators have since denied the accusation. 
Honasan said he doubts the senators would be influenced by Iglesia ni Cristo's command votes if ever the news were true.
The terms of Senators Trillanes, Honasan, Lacson, Edgardo Angara, Joker  Arroyo, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Loren Legarda, Francis  Pangilinan, Koko Pimentel, and Manny Villar will expire in 2013.
But Angara, Joker, Lacson, Pangilinan, and Villar are already on their second terms so they can't seek re-election.  
Only Escudero, Legarda, Pimentel, and Trillanes have declared that they  will seek re-election in 2013. Cayetano and Honasan, meanwhile, have  yet to make any announcement. 
— Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ/KBK/HS, GMA News
source: gmanetwork.com
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Iglesia ni Cristo member denounce lobby reportMANILA — Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) votes as a herd in elections, but it  never dips its fingers in politics, a member of the religious sect said  yesterday.
Lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, an INC follower, said he was “offended” and  “outraged” by the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s report on Saturday that  INC officials had been seeing senators to lobby for the acquittal of  impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona.
“Except to vote as one during elections in accordance with our  fundamental beliefs, we do not intervene in politics, and it is  offensive to say otherwise,” said Topacio, a lawyer for Jose Miguel  Arroyo, husband of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria  Macapagal-Arroyo.
Topacio said that while he was not authorized to speak for INC, “I  believe I speak for most of the brethren who are outraged that the  church was placed in a bad light on the basis of unsubstantiated rumors.  We wished that the Inquirer would have left the church out of the  disinformation and psychological warfare campaigns being waged in  connection with the Corona impeachment trial.”
The Inquirer reported that INC officials Dan Orosa and Resty Lazaro  had met discreetly with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate  President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada during the month-long Lenten break  of Congress to plead the case of Corona, whom INC followers supported.
A legislative source told the Inquirer that two other  associates—Manny Cuevas and Victor Cheng—had been requesting to meet  with other senators in recent days to lobby them for Corona’s acquittal.  /INQUIRER
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Iglesia ni Cristo lobby doubtedIt’s a suprise. It’s not surprising. A trick. Anyway, we are not  bothered. So, ignore it. But whatever neither-here-nor-there reactions  to the reported high-powered Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) lobby in the Senate  to acquit Chief Justice Renato Corona, one thing is clear: The reactors  do not want to be on the wrong side of the politically influential INC.
Malacañang wouldn’t be surprised if certain people affiliated with the INC would lobby for the acquittal of Corona.
But a senior adviser to President Benigno Aquino III doubts that the  lobbying would have the approval of the religious group’s leadership.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, a political adviser to the  President, said the administration expected Corona to use every  political tool available—even collect on past political debts—to  influence senators as his impeachment trial neared its end.
“The impeachment trial is essentially a political process that is  being played out in a highly charged political context,” Abad, a member  of the President’s Liberal Party, said in a text message to the  Inquirer.
“We expect CJ Rene Corona to be using all available political levers,  even calling upon political debts, to try to influence the senators,”  Abad said.
Asked if the administration had information of INC leaders trying to  influence senators into pushing for Corona’s acquittal, Abad said,  “Because it is common knowledge that the INC in the past has wielded its  political clout in the arena of politics, that development will not be  surprising.”
He went on: “But it was only until the [Philippine Daily Inquirer] came out with the report  that we came to know, particularly of the alleged attempts by certain  INC personalities to influence the senators. And even if that were true  we also are not sure if those moves are in fact sanctioned by the INC  hierarchy.”
Just a trickPresidential adviser on political affairs Ronald Llamas said the  lobbying was just a trick to pressure the senators into acquitting  Corona.
But Llamas said the senators would not allow themselves to be  pressured. And the government does not believe the INC would “allow  itself to be used for political purposes,” Llamas said in a text  message.
A legislative source told the Inquirer that INC officials Dan Orosa  and Resty Lazaro approached senators during the Lenten break of  Congress.
Manny Cuevas and Victor Cheng have also been mentioned as continuing  the lobby when the impeachment trial resumed in early May. Manny Cuevas  was earlier erroneously identified as the brother of Corona’s lead  defense counsel, Serafin Cuevas, who is an Iglesia member.
Not botheredAbad said he was not bothered by the supposed Iglesia lobby. He said  he was confident that the senators would see the overwhelming evidence  against the Chief Justice and vote to convict him.
“Remember, the overwhelming message in the 2010 elections that  catapulted the Aquino administration to power was stop corruption and  hold those who committed graft and corruption with impunity accountable  to the people,” Abad said.
“The evidence so far gathered by the prosecution under Article 2 are  enough, in my view, to convict Corona,” Abad said. “But the startling  revelations of Ombudsman [Conchita] Carpio Morales on Corona’s dollar  transactions based on [Anti-Money Laundering Council] documents have  sealed Corona’s fate,” he added.
Article 2 of the House’s impeachment complaint against Corona  involves his failure to disclose his statements of assets, liabilities  and net worth.
Morales, summoned by the impeachment court as a hostile witness on  the request of the defense, last week presented AMLC documents detailing  movements in multimillion-dollar deposits in 82 bank accounts allegedly  owned by Corona.
“With the intolerant attitude being displayed by our people against  corruption and the overwhelming evidence now before the Senate, I don’t  see how the senators can ignore these,” Abad said.
Clarify issuesDeputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Malacañang  expected the senators to shed light on the reported Iglesia lobbying.
In an interview over state-run radio station dzRB, Valte said  senators usually use breaks during the impeachment trial to clarify  certain issues.
“Let’s see when the trial resumes on Tuesday if the senators will take the time to answer this particular item,” Valte.
Some of the senators would not wait until then to speak. They began  talking on Friday, saying no lobbying by any group could sway them to  vote for or against Corona.
Senators Aquilino Pimentel III, Vicente Sotto III, Gregorio Honasan  II, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Franklin Drilon, Francis Pangilinan  and Ralph Recto said they had not been approached by Iglesia ni Cristo.  Some of them doubted the INC would “stoop so low.”
“Any lobbying is useless,” Pimentel told the Inquirer by phone. “I’m  very vocal and publicly stated that I will decide on evidence. Lobbying  can’t change evidence. They have to refute evidence by better evidence.”
Lacson agreed: “Even if true, I trust that a great majority of  senator-judges will be guided by what the prosecution and the defense  panels have presented and will present, and how we will appreciate those  pieces of evidence.”
More than the lobbying by groups, Corona’s forthrightness on assets  that he did not declare in his statements of assets, liabilities and net  worth would help his cause, Drilon said.
UNA targetedThe Iglesia lobby reportedly targeted members of the United  Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President Jejomar Binay and former  President Joseph Estrada.
The legislative source claimed that the INC’s Orosa and Lazaro met  with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile in Cagayan, and Senate President  Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada in Manila. Enrile declined to be  interviewed. Senator Estrada said he had not been approached.
Sotto, the Senate majority leader said it wasn’t surprising for any  group from both sides to approach senators, as the impeachment trial is  political.
“Whether true or not, whether Malacañang is also talking to  prosecutors or senators or not, it’s all part of the political character  of the impeachment,” Sotto said by phone. “You can’t prevent groups or  persons from lobbying,” he said.
“For all you know, their name (INC) is only being used,” Sotto added.
Honasan said the reports of lobbying were “unfair” to both the INC and the senators, and distract from the trial.
“I think it’s a form of disrespect to the Iglesia and the  senator-judges,” Honasan said by phone. “We must presume good faith in  everyone. There were insinuations like this before about the attempts by  Malacañang to influence judges by offering development projects.”
 Ignore itHonasan said the reports should be ignored because they “destroy  concentration and detract from what should be the focus: the continued  search for truth and justice.”
All the senators sought for comment by the Inquirer said they had not been approached by the INC.
“I have not been approached,” Lacson said in a text message. “I don’t  think the INC leadership will stoop down and hit the gutter in an  impeachment trial where moral fitness in such an exalted position in  government is on trial.”
Sotto admitted talking with an INC official a few months ago but on the reproductive health bill.
And neither were Honasan, Drilon, Pangilinan, Recto and Legarda approached about Corona’s case.
“I have not been approached by the INC or the Palace to influence my  vote in the trial,” Honasan said. “I don’t think the senator-judges  should give this too much attention. We’re looking forward to the  appearance of the Chief Justice.”
Corona will testify in his own defense on Tuesday.
Pangilinan said this could be “all speculation” and declined further comment.
Recto said he was “surprised” by the reports.
Drilon said: “I can state for a fact I was not approached.”
Pangilinan, Recto and Drilon are members the Liberal Party.
Legarda said she would rather “assess” the evidence and wait for Corona’s testimony on Tuesday.
House Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, spokesperson of the  prosecution panel, also doubted the INC would try to influence the  verdict in Corona’s trial.
“I don’t think the INC will do that,” Tañada said by phone. “It will  be unfair to the senator-judges. The senator-judges would want to base  their decision on the evidence presented,” he said.
Tañada said he thought the INC was just an “observer like everyone  else.” He said he believed the INC would look at the evidence presented  and would base its stance on these. 
With reports from TJ Burgonio and Leila B. Salaverrisource: inquirer.net
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Bakit desperadong ikinakabit ang Iglesia ni Cristo kay Corona (Prelude ba ito?)SA  simula pa lamang ng impeachment trial kay SC Chief Justice Renato  Corona, pumutok na ang ‘tsismis’ na nags0-SHOW OF FORCE raw ang  kapatiran ng Iglesia ni Cristo (INC).
Ikinabakabit pa nga ito kay dating Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas, na ngayon ay defense team chief ni Corona.
Maging ang malalaking BIBLE EXPOSITION ng INC ay pinagdudahang pagpapakita raw ng suporta kay Corona.
Noong araw, may kasabihan (pasintabi po) … “ang duling daw walang gawang magaling …”
Pero ngayon mas paniwalaan natin kapag sinabing  … “ang PRANING wala lalong gagawin magaling …”
Jokingkly  aside  dear readers, ngayon natin napagtatanto na ang mga kapraningan  na ‘yan ay tila PRELUDE sa nalalapit na pagwawakas ng impeachment trial.
Bakit natin nasasabi ito?
Aba  naman, lumabas dalawang araw magkasunod sa isang ‘mahabang’ d’yaryo ang  istorya hinggil sa ‘LOBBYING’ o GAPANGAN umano ng INC sa ilang senator  judges kaugnay ng magiging VERDICT kay Corona.
Ang ATRIBUSYON ng  nasabing istorya ay isang ‘CONGRESSIONAL SOURCE’ kuno na ayaw ipabanggit  ang pangalan dahil “lack of authority to speak on the matter.”
Pwede bang ang salin n’yan sa Filipino ay KULANG-KULANG sa kapangyarihan?! Hak hak hak!
Simple lang ang tanong natin, bakit ba laging ikinakabit ang  INC d’yan sa impeach trial na ‘yan?!
Llamado na kayo, hindi na kailangan gumawa pa ng ganyan istorya!
Lahat na lang ng ginagawang pagtitipon ng INC ay ikinakabait sa impeachment ni Corona.
Buti na lang hindi nila ikinonek ang INC sports unity event d’yan sa Impeachment!?
‘E bakit ‘yung mga pagtitipon ng El Shaddai, Jesus is Lord at ng CBCP, hindi nila napagdidiskatahan?
Napaghahalata tuloy na ang administrasyon na ito ay mainit sa INC … dahil ba sa Corona issue?
Inuulit lang po natin, huwag magpakapraning sa Corona impeachment!
Ay sus!
source: hatawtabloid.com