Vice President Jejomar Binay, a presidential candidate in next year鈥檚 national elections, yesterday defended the members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) who were protesting in front of the Department of Justice (DOJ) building in Manila, saying they were fighting for their faith.
鈥淲e cannot fault the INC for resorting to mass action to protect the independence of their church from a clear act of harassment and interference [of] the administration,鈥� Binay, a lawyer, said.
鈥淩eligious freedom is guaranteed by our Constitution. Yet the administration chose to trample on this sacred right. What we are seeing [is] people fighting for their faith,鈥� he said.
Earlier, Binay, who quit the Cabinet in June to lead the political opposition to President Aquino, urged Malaca帽ang and the DOJ to respect the INC鈥檚 independence as a religious institution.
鈥淚nstead of meddling in INC affairs, the administration should focus on more pressing matters such as poverty alleviation and addressing the MRT problem. [Palace and justice officials would do well] to deal with what鈥檚 on their plate first,鈥� Binay said.
The Vice President said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima should give priority to the pork barrel scam and going after all the people involved in that case.
Binay also wrote a letter to De Lima, advising her to refrain from giving 鈥渦nwarranted statements鈥� about the INC controversy.
鈥淯nwarranted statements鈥� referred to De Lima鈥檚 saying earlier this month that the INC case was not yet closed, after an official of the National Bureau of Investigation, the DOJ鈥檚 investigative arm, was reported by a television network to have declared the case closed.
The NBI explained that the official did not say the case was closed, but that people at INC did not want to talk when NBI agents went to the sect鈥檚 headquarters in July to look into the alleged abductions.