(Eagle News) – The Iglesia Ni Cristo said it is expecting the illegal occupants led by expelled INC members Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo and his sister, Lolita “Lottie” Hemedez to peacefully leave the premises of 36 Tandang Sora Avenue in Quezon City, now that no less than the court has directed them to “immediately vacate” the INC property.
In a press conference held at the Eagle Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) in Quezon City, INC spokesperson minister Edwil Zabala and lawyer for the INC, Atty. Moises Tolentino Jr., said that the favorable decision of the Manila metropolitan trial court dated May 26, 2016 was “immediately executory.”
“We hope they would leave peacefully the compound now that there is a court decision,” Zabala said during the presscon.
“We waited for five months for this Decision. We did abide by the procedures laid down by the law,” he said.
In a six-page decision dated May 26, 2016, Presiding Judge Anne Perpetual Rivera-Sia of the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) branch 12 ordered Angel Manalo and Lottie Hemedez to immediately vacate the INC property at 36 Tandang Sora Avenue in Quezon City.
The court also ordered the two to immediately surrender the property to the INC.
Zabala said INC lawyers received the decision on Thursday, June 16.
“We gladly welcome this recent decision as another vindication of the Church,” he said.
Lawyer Tolentino said that under the Rules, “a judgment on an unlawful detainer case is immediately executory”.
“Proper steps will be taken,” he said.
On June 24, Friday, the court will hear the motion for the execution of judgment.
“We will wait for the issuance of the writ of execution and that is what we are asking the court through the motion that will be heard on June 24. We expect this to be issued soon,” Atty. Tolentino said. “We cannot say the exact date but it will not take long.”
The INC lawyer explained that no motion for reconsideration is allowed in an “unlawful detainer” case which was the case filed by the INC against Angel Manalo and Lottie Hemedez in February this year. The INC originally filed an eviction case on January 14, 2016, but amended it on February 17 into an unlawful detainer suit.
“Based on the allegations, defendants’ stay on the property is based on tolerance. Defendants’ occupation of the property was initially lawful but later on turned out as illegal due to their refusal to vacate the property after lawful demand,” the Decision said.
The defendants were expelled from the INC on July 23, 2015 for “grave violation” of the INC’s doctrines.
With the expulsion, the INC asserted that the defendants have lost their privilege to stay on the property.
Up to now, the INC also has no idea of the number and identity of unauthorized persons inside its own compound since even INC security guards are also prevented by the illegal occupants from entering the INC property they are occupying, Zabala and Tolentino both stressed.
The INC has earlier filed an injunction case against the defendants with a Quezon City court that sought to ban the entry of unknown and unauthorized inviduals from entering the INC premises.
With the Manila court’s decision in the “unlawful detainer” case, however, this injunction case is rendered “moot and academic,” Tolentino explained.
Tolentino also hopes that the defendants would just leave the INC premises peacefully, and abide by the decision of the court.
“I don’t think they will resist, because this time, it is already the full force of the law that they will be challenging,” he said.