(Eagle News) — The Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) administration under the stewardship of the Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo, has decided to file an ejectment case in court against its former members Mr. Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo, Mrs. Lottie Hemedez and company who until now have refused to leave the INC housing compound at #36 Tandang Sora Avenue, Quezon City.
The INC, through its spokesperson, Bro. Edwil Zabala, announced this decision in a press conference held at the Eagle Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) building in Diliman, Quezon City.
“Ang Pamamahala ng Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) sa pangunguna ng aming Executive Minister, ang Kapatid na Eduardo V. Manalo, ay nagpasiya nang magsampa ng ejectment case sa hukuman laban sa mga dating kaanib nito na sina G. Angel Manalo at Gng. Lottie Hemedez at mga kasama na hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin umaalis sa housing compound ng Iglesia sa #36 Tandang Sora Avenue,” Zabala said reading the INC press statement.
“Nais naming bigyang-diin na ang buong compound sa #36 Tandang Sora ay pagmamay-ari ng Iglesia Ni Cristo. Subalit ang karapatang ito ng Iglesia ay hindi na iginagalang kundi niyuyurakan pa ng kampo nina G. Angel at Gng. Lottie,” he told members of the media.
Zabala said that the former members have already lost their privilege to stay in the INC property when they were expelled on July 23, 2015.
“Their privilege to stay in the INC’s housing located at the said compound ended with their expulsion from the Church on July 23, 2015. Since then, they have already lost the privilege to reside in the housing compound of the Church. Nevertheless, in consideration of Christian principles and humanitarian reasons, we did not immediately order them to vacate the premises,” Zabala said.
“Despite being allowed to stay within the property owned by the Church, they have decided to engage in activities that threaten the very security of the INC compound which is very close to the INC Central Office, including the residents living near the area,” he said.
The INC spokesperson was accompanied by one of the INC’s lawyers, Atty. Moises Tolentino Jr., during the press conference.
They explained that there had been CCTV footages which showed that Angel and Lottie’s camp had “previously allowed the entry of unidentified men wearing masks even during unholy hours.”
They said that these men carried big bags containing things that only they know. Some of the men have even managed to stay in the compound – these masked men were seen holding cameras and carrying big bags inside the compound.
“Tinatanong namin ang publiko—kung ganito ang ginagawa sa inyong bakuran: papayagan ba ninyo na mamalagi ang mga ito na wala kayong ginagawang legal na aksiyon?” Zabala said.
Lawyer Tolentino said the INC has the right to protect and secure its property.
The INC lawyer also noted instances where those coming out of the Tandang Sora property acted arrogantly and tried to hurt INC security guards.
“May mga lumalabas na galing sa loob at pumapasok ay napakatatapang pa, yung mga security guard sa gate ay kanilang inaaway,” Tolentino said citing various video footages, including those from CCTV cameras.
He said that because of these events, the INC leadership has decided that it’s about time to file the appropriate action for ejectment against the compound’s occupants, so the “security of the entire compound will be secured and protected.”
The INC has filed an injunction case in court against them on September 21, 2015. The court understood the need for security which is why the judge himself allowed the INC to impose security measures for monitoring purposes (September 29, 2015).
Zabala said there had been repeated requests for the respondents to submit a list of names of the people staying there. The court has already ordered the camp of Mr. Angel and Mrs. Lottie to submit the names of those staying in the compound. But until now they have not complied. These suspicious unauthorized persons have been staying near the Central Office for more than three months now.
“Up to now the camp of Mr. Angel and Mrs. Lottie have refused to give the required list of names. Aren’t the authorized residents of the INC Central Compound entitled to freedom from fear and right to security?” Zabala told reporters.
Zabal also explained that up to now, the INC has not been informed of the circumstances regarding the death of a man which was brought out by Mr. Angel and his companions outside the Tandang Sora INC compound one night of November 2015.
“The next thing we knew he was dead the following morning. Until now, we do not know the circumstances of this event. And yet they try to put the blame for this man’s death on the Church,” he said.
In December 2015, during the ocular inspection by the sheriff upon orders of the court, Angel and Lottie also refused to let the court sheriff inspect the entire property, and instead insisted that only the structure fronting the compound is the only place that the court should inspect.
On their admission, they themselves said that the other areas, including the other buildings and houses in the two-hectare compound, are already INC property, Zabala said.
Because of this, the INC extended further the temporary galvanized iron fence to protect this larger part of the INC compound. It was also during this instance that the INC was able to recover 39 0f its vehicles that Angel’s camp had been hiding for a long time. The INC is still looking for the 20 other vehicles registered under the name of the Church.
Zabala said that Mr. Angel, Mrs. Lottie and company have also refused to pay their electric consumption and what they want is for the INC to continue to pay this for them. “Truth be told, for humanitarian considerations, up to now it is the INC which continues to pay for their water consumption,” he said.
“These past few days, even their housemaids acted inappropriately when INC security guards tried to inspect the items they were bringing inside. CCTV video have shown they tried to fight off the INC security, trying to hurt them, hurling invectives and other foul words at them as the INC security guards tried to do their inspection,” he said.
“All these have brought alarm to the brethren of the INC. A big number of INC members have expressed apprehension for the security, not only of the INC Central Office, but more importantly for the life of our most beloved Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo,” Zabala said.
“Sa harap ng lahat ng pangyayaring ito, kayo na mga nakamasid sa amin, kayo na rin ang makapagpapasiya. Tama bang akusahan ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao ang liderato ng Iglesia ni Cristo? Sa kabila nito, hindi lamang sila patuloy na gumagawa ng malisyosong paninira kundi nagpa-file ng kung anu-anong kaso. (In all of these circumstances, you who have been observing us, you can decide for yourselves. Is it right to accuse the leadership of the Iglesia Ni Cristo of human rights violations? In the face of all of these, they have not only continued to maliciously spread lies, but are also filing cases that do not reflect the truth)” he said as he read the statement.
“Sukdulan na ang kanilang mga paninira at pagsisinungaling sa media sa layuning siraan ang Iglesia lalo na ang kasalukuyang Pamamahala. Kaya ngayon gagawin na ng Iglesia ang hakbang na marapat alinsunod sa itinatadhana ng batas. (Their lies in media and attempts to destroy the Church’s reputation, including that of the Church Administration, have reached the saturation point. So the Church will now do the proper course of action in accordance with the law),” he said.