CA junks amparo plea of ex-INC minister Menorca

The Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed for being "moot and academic" a plea for the protection of former Iglesia ni Cristo minister Lowell Menorca and his family.

In a 13-page decision, the CA granted an omnibus motion filed by the religious group seeking the dismissal of the writ of amparo petition filed by Menorca's brother Anthony and his sister-in-law Jungko. The group said the plea should be deemed moot because Menorca and his family had already left the country.

The CA stressed that the writ of amparo cannot be issued "on amorphous and uncertain grounds, or in cases where the alleged threat has ceased and is no longer imminent or continuing."

A writ of amparo is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission.

The CA noted how Menorca repeatedly failed to attend hearings for his cross-examination on March and March 21, and how he had left the country with his family for Vietnam with no definite date of return.

The CA said the Menorca family's departure was a "supervening event" that had rendered the case moot and academic, since they are the "only true beneficiaries" of the petition.

"Proceeding with the case would merely waste the valuable time and resources of the court; a declaration on the issue would be of no practical value or use," read the decision.

The CA said the enforcement of an amparo writ was anyway rendered "nugatory" with the Menorcas' flight from the court's jurisdiction.

The CA also ruled that the filing of libel and adultery cases against Menorca could not be considered as threats because these are bailable.

Meanwhile, the case filed against the Menorcas for the alleged kidnapping of their househelp Abegail likewise cannot be considered a threat since it can be "easily defended" by saying Abegail had already categorically declared in her testimony that she went willingly with the Menorcas.

The CA also said that the petitioner camp's request that the case be archived instead of dismissed was "not feasible." In the first place, archiving would require the CA to send notice to Menorca, which cannot be done because his whereabouts are unknown.

"We hold the opinion that in amparo cases, particularly with respect to archiving, notice to counsel cannot be construed as notice to petitioner. The conundrum confronting us is, where will notice be sent," said the CA.

The appeals court also said archiving the case would be an "anathema" to the Supreme Court's policy to declog the court dockets.

The CA also said that while a motion to dismiss an amparo plea was prohibited, the denial of its privilege was allowed on the ground of being moot and academic, based on the Supreme Court's 2012 ruling on Jun Lozada v. former President Gloria Mapacapagal-Arroyo.

The CA said Menorca seemed to be "confusing fear for threats" when he repeatedly raised fears of being hauled off to jail due to the criminal cases filed against him.

Anthony, who is currently under the Witness Protection Program, earlier claimed his brother and his family were being held against their will by the Iglesia ni Cristo.

In his nine-page petition, Anthony claimed that Lowell was "forcibly" taken by armed men on July 16, 2015 after a church service at the Iglesia ni Cristo chapel in Bulan, Sorsogon.

His wife, Jinky, also eventually "surrendered" to the Iglesia ni Cristo Sanggunian, the church's highest advisory body, after allegedly being told over the phone "in a very menacing manner" that she would never see her husband again if she would not appear at the Iglesia ni Cristo Central Office in Quezon City. —ALG, GMA News