(Eagle News) — Various political personalities showed up in the Iglesia Ni Cristo’s peaceful assembly along EDSA highway to support the INC members’ call for the government to attend to the case of the Mamasapano killings.
Former Tarlac congressman and present chair of the Philippine Olympic Committee Jose “Peping” Cojuangco, Jr., who is also the uncle of President Aquino, showed up at the INC rally on Saturday night (Aug. 29), as well as his wife Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco, former Chairman of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) party and a member of the Council of Philippine Affairs (COPA).
COPA Secretary-General Pastor “Boy” Saycon also showed up and spoke lengthily on stage during the INC’s gathering and showed the crowd a graphic video of some of the slain members of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force.
Saycon said that the DOJ’s slow action to file the necessary murder cases against those responsible for the Mamasapano massacre was very evident.
He noted that the DOJ already has so many complicated cases on its hand, including the Mamasapano case the investigation of which had not yet been finished by the DOJ.
Last April, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima announced that some 90 members of the Moro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and private armed groups had been recommended to be criminally charged for the Mamasapano incident.
However, four months after that announcement and seven months after that tragic misencounter, not a single case had been filed in court by the DOJ.
Former MILF Spokesperson Eid Kabalu also showed up at the INC’s rally along EDSA saying he also sympathized with the feeling of injustice being felt by the INC members.
Kabalu had earlier refuted statements of the MILF that it did not know about the presence of Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan who was the target of the PNP-SAF special operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao,
The 44 SAF commandos were killed in a covert operation on Jan. 25 to capture international terrorist “Marwan.” Members of the MIF, which has a standing peace agreement with the government, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), and other private armed groups (PAGs), already admitted responsibility in the carnage.
The Senate Committee on Public Order, chaired by Sen. Grace Poe conducted its own investigation into the controversy. The Senate Committee eventually released a committee report finding President Aquino ultimately responsible for the operation.
Critics have slammed the Aquino administration for its slow action to give justice to the Fallen 44, even as it pushed vigorously for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law which contains provisions generally regarded as favoring the MILF.
The INC has denounced DOJ chief De Lima for her alleged “selective” concept of administering justice. In a statement last week, the INC said De Lima gave special personal attention to the consolidation of criminal cases against the INC’s leadership from the complaints of a few expelled members who had been earlier disciplined by the INC hierarchy, including former minister Isaias Samson Jr.,
“Nakarating po sa aming kaalaman na may ilan pa pong inaalagaan ang DOJ na mga inalis na sa Iglesia at mga kabilang sa nais na manggulo sa Iglesia,” INC General Evangelist minister Bienvenido Santiago said.
“Ang tanong bakit hindi binigyan ng atensyon ng DOJ ang kaso ng apatnapu’t apat na sundalong napatay sa Mamasapano na kasing-tindi ng ibinigay nila sa mga taong naghain ng reklamo sa kanilang Taggapan? Kumpara sa apatnapu’t apat na sundalo na napatay sa Mamasapano – dito sa inirereklamo ni Samson ay wala ni isang lamok na napatay. Halata namang kasinungalingan ang sinasabi ng mga nagrereklamo,” said Santiago when he read the INC statement last week.
INC spokesperson Edwil Zabala said it was clear what the INC members who attended the peaceful rally were fighting for. And it is fairness in the administration of justice by the government and respect for what the INC believes is already a Church policy in the handling of its own religious affairs.