Expelled Manalo siblings, INC reach compromise

The lawyers of Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo have agreed to furnish the Iglesia ni Cristo  with a list of names and photos of the visitors and occupants of the Tandang Sora compound in Quezon City where he and his sister, all siblings of INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo, have been staying.

Under the agreement which will be effective for the duration of the hearing for a temporary restraining order (TRO), the INC was also allowed to post up to two guards at a time on a 24-hour basis outside the gate of No. 36 Tandang Sora Avenue.

“What we’re seeking here is to prevent persons other than the immediate household (members) of Angel Manalo and Lottie Manalo from coming in and out (of the compound),” Serafin Cuevas Jr., lead counsel for INC, told reporters after a hearing on Tuesday at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 222.

Visitors in bonnets seen

The INC, represented by minister of the gospel Radel Cortez, filed the petition for injunction with a prayer for TRO and writ of preliminary injunction against the expelled Manalo siblings and expelled INC members Roel Rosal, Shirley Rosal and Eliodoro Yuson Jr.

During Tuesday’s hearing, the INC presented two security officers who monitored people wearing bonnets coming in and out of the residential compound carrying boxes.

Cuevas said they were “like terrorists” and their presence was deemed a security threat to the church and residents of the compound.

“They will submit a roster of actual occupants there with their photographs. While the Iglesia ni Cristo will be allowed to post security guards at the gate, not inside the compound, for security reasons,” Cuevas said.

He added that the guards would not bar anyone as long as they are bona fide visitors of the family.

‘Nothing to hide’

Meanwhile, Trixie Angeles, Manalo’s counsel together with Ahmed Paglinawan, said they agreed to the petitioner’s requests “to keep the peace.”

“Since we have nothing to hide, there is no point to refuse that. (And) to ensure that there is no harassment of visitors, then we engaged in transparency,” Angeles told reporters.

She maintained that the INC petition to bar the Manalo siblings from having visitors amounted to restriction of their freedom.

“The only people not allowed visitors are people who are detained,” Angeles said.

She added that the INC security guards could have apprehended the masked visitors if they were committing a crime.

“But by their own admission, no crime was being committed. And no crime has in fact been committed. Not since the whole problem began within the church,” she said.