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What exactly went down at the talks between the government and Iglesia Ni Cristo that finally put an end to their nighmarish takeover of Manila and Edsa?
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas will only say that the two sides had a chance to “clarfiy issues.”
Roxas’ unwillingness — or inability — to expound further has alarmed the lawyers of expelled INC minister Isaias Samson Jr.
(It was Samson’s lawsuit against eight members of the INC’s Sanggunian that sparked this protest; INC felt that the Department of Justice should not get involved in the case.)
”The fear now is that given the so-called agreement, a finding of ‘no probable cause’ to make this nightmare go away for the INC’s Sanggunian is a very real possibility. And your silence is not helping,” lawyers Trixie Angeles and Ahmed Paglinawan chided President Aquino and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas in a statement.
”A criminal case is not a political pawn. The law provides that it cannot be compromised. The president can grant pardons and issue clemency and amnesty. But you do not have the power to refuse prosecution,” they said.
