INC case: ‘Where are the bodies?’

Former Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) minister Lowell Menorca’s story of his abduction and attempted murder in the midst of alleged corruption inside the influential religious group is like a plot taken from the novel of international best-selling fiction writer Dan Brown.

This was how a prominent human rights lawyer described the recent account of Menorca on his alleged abduction and attempted murder, as he yesterday casted doubt on whether the influential religious group was capable of committing such heinous crime.

Lawyer Harry Roque, who is known for handling high-profile cases and whose clients include the family of Jennifer Laude and the relatives of victims of the Ampatuan Massacre, said that while Menorca gave details regarding the alleged “death squads,” he found it strange that “Menorca could not name a single victim.”

He stressed that the claims of former INC minister Lowell Menorca II of the existence of INC “death squads” needed to be backed up by prima facie evidence if Menorca insisted on publicly accusing the INC of employing hitmen.

“If the INC has death squads, who are their victims? Where are the bodies? If I were to publicly accuse someone of maintaining a stable of killers, the first thing I would do to support the allegation is rattle off a list of its purported victims,” Roque told justice reporters.

Roque stressed that the more damaging a public accusation, “the greater the burden of the accuser to prove this is true.”

“Paano mo iimbestigahan ang murder kung wala namang namatay (how can you investigate a murder if no one has died)?” Roque asked.