The headquarters of the powerful Iglesia ni Cristo on Commonwealth Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City.
BULAN, Sorsogon—A group of people on board a convoy of six vehicles drove to this town on Friday and handcuffed an Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) minister before whisking him away, police and village officials here said.
The minister, among those listed as allegedly abducted by INC members, later surfaced at a jail in Dasmariñas City, Cavite province, where police said he was arrested for reportedly threatening construction workers with a grenade.
READ: INC council wants to help ‘brother’ in jail — lawyer
Butag village chief Benito Gliponeo said it was right after INC’s samba (prayer service) sometime before noon of July 17 when a group of people in several vehicles came and handcuffed INC minister Bro. Lowell Boyet Menorca II, threw a jacket over his head, and led him to a vehicle that immediately drove off.
After about 20 minutes, Menorca’s wife, who was also in the church, was likewise whisked away in another vehicle, Gliponeo said, adding that Menorca had been assigned to the INC church in the village only some six months ago so they did not know much about him.
Insp. Deo Cabildo, deputy police chief here, said the convoy of pickups, SUVs and a Toyota Innova left Butag around noon though he could not say if Menorca was with them. But there was no report of any abduction in Butag, nor was the incident logged on the police blotter.
However, police desk officer SPO1 Alejandro Marqueza recounted in a separate interview that a barangay kagawad (village councilman) had gone to the police station around 1 p.m. on July 17, asking if INC had coordinated with the police since its convoy allegedly used a police escort.
Marqueza said he told the village official that the group did not coordinate with the town police. Cabildo also denied that the police provided an escort to the INC group.
Police unaware
According to Cabildo, the police was not aware of Menorca’s situation until news about his arrest in Dasmariñas, Cavite, came out in the media.
Cavite police said Menorca, 38, was being detained on charges of grave threats and illegal possession of an explosive. According to the police report, he was arrested on July 17 after threatening two construction workers with a hand grenade. The police said that workers managed to call them when it turned out that the grenade pin was held in place by tape.
Flees anew
Meanwhile, the suspended INC minister who bared corruption within his church and the detention of his fellow ministers fled anew yesterday, leaving Manila with his family amid fears for their lives.
After escaping his captors on Thursday and talking about his family’s alleged ordeal, Isaias Samson Jr. fled to a new safe house yesterday after spending the night at an undisclosed location in Manila, a source who traveled with Samson’s party confirmed Friday afternoon.
Security fears
The source said Samson had to cancel a planned second press conference on Friday morning as security fears cropped up anew.
Just hours after allegedly escaping from his armed guards early on Thursday morning, Samson bared his family’s weeklong “torture” by some members of INC’s Sanggunian (governing council) while they were under “house arrest.”
INC crackdown
He also detailed alleged corruption within the church, including the supposed collection of additional contributions from ministers and manggagawa (a rank below that of minister) for questionable purchases intended for INC’s outreach programs.
Samson confirmed as well the detention of at least nine other INC ministers at various locations in the midst of a seeming crackdown on church members opposed to the Sanggunian’s management style.
To be transferred
In Butag, INC members refused to talk to the Inquirer. But according to Cabildo, it was sometime around 11 a.m. on July 17 when he was alerted about a big convoy of vehicles headed to the interior village located some 5 kilometers from the main highway in Bulan.
The police officer said the people in the convoy introduced themselves as INC members on their way to fetch a minister in Butag so he could be transferred to the INC central office.
Cabildo said he could not recall the names of the people he talked to, but that he advised them to hurry as they might encounter some New People’s Army rebels along the way if they stayed out late on the road.
He did not suspect anything afoul, the police officer said, because he knew there was an INC church in Butag. July 17 was also the village fiesta so a number of guests and nonresidents were taking part in the festivities, he added.
No kidnapping
Lawyer Allen Blair Boy, whom the INC council had sent as counsel for Menorca, denied the kidnapping of his client in another phone interview, saying the minister remained a member of INC that was in fact extending him all the help he needed.
“Pinatutulungan pa nga (The INC council even ordered us to help him). That’s the very opposite of an expulsion,” said the lawyer, an INC member.
Menorca is the son of the late Lowell Menorca, INC’s former administrative secretary. The minister is also known as Boyet, with an address in Bulan, Sorsogon province.
Blog post
A blog post written by a certain Antonio Ramirez Ebangelista named the young Menorca as one of the nine ministers allegedly expelled or kidnapped for being critical of INC. The blog said Menorca was handcuffed and a white cloth thrown over his face while he was officiating a service in Sorsogon.
In a phone interview on Friday, Boy denied that his client was abducted though he declined to answer questions on why Menorca was being detained in Cavite and not in Sorsogon, and where the grenade came from, saying these information might affect their case.
READ: INC expels mother, brother of Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo
‘Very private person’
The lawyer said Menorca’s case had nothing to do with the crisis involving the family of INC leader Eduardo Manalo and that the INC council did not immediately know about Menorca’s detention since “(Menorca) is a very private person and actually wanted his case kept from the public.”
Menorca was arrested a few days before the INC controversy became public.
On Friday, Menorca issued an affidavit confirming his counsel’s statement to the police and the media. “He is OK. We had a lengthy talk this morning and I even bought him food,” Boy said, adding that they were also preparing a counter-affidavit to be filed in the Dasmariñas court.
NBI probe independent of PNP
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima meanwhile ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to verify the reported abduction of INC ministers, citing an anonymous plea for help sent to her e-mail.
“Depending on the results of the initial probe, that’s when we’ll know what should be the next step, if we’ll need a formal probe,” said De Lima on Friday.
Asked if the probe would entail interviews with INC leaders, De Lima said: “If warranted from the initial results of the probe, yes. NBI would know what to do under the premises.” She added that the NBI investigation would be “independent as of now” from that of the police.
Anonymous e-mail
De Lima said she received the anonymous e-mail from a certain “kapatid sa Iglesia” (INC brethren) on Thursday morning, which said that some members of the Manalo family were in danger and that the INC council was involved in the alleged threats and abductions.
“Tulungan po ninyo kami. Parang awa niyo na (Help us. We beg you),” the message said.
Also attached in the e-mail was the July 22 YouTube video of Cristina “Tenny” Manalo, widow of the late INC leader Eraño Manalo, and their son Angel Manalo, appealing for help for the kidnapped ministers. In her emotional plea, the Manalo matriarch also asked to speak to her son Eduardo, the current INC executive minister.
De Lima said the NBI probe would cover only the abduction allegations, which are criminal in nature, “and where lives are involved.”
Internal matter
“That’s where the state could come in through the proper investigative bodies. At the very least, let’s see what it’s all about, where [the report] is coming from, if the alleged abduction is really happening, when did it happen,” the justice official said.
But the government will step in on the corruption allegations only when a formal complaint is filed, she added.
“On the issue of the alleged corruption, of fund misuse, at this point, we can’t interfere with that. The reported expulsion of the brother and mother is also internal. I don’t see any basis for us to interfere at this point,” De Lima said.
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