‘I don’t want to leave the Menorcas,’ nanny of ex-Iglesia minister tells CA

SHE was allowed to join her father and go back to Sorsogon but turned down the opportunity because she disagreed with the condition that she would leave with her face covered, Abegail Yanson, nanny of the family of expelled Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) minister Lowell Menorca, said Wednesday during her testimony before the Court of Appeals.

Yanson said a certain Israel Gatchalian informed her father Candido of her whereabouts.

She said she was allowed to leave the INC Central in Quezon City, but her face should be covered because they need to go to another location before going back to her hometown in Sorsogon.

“Bro. Israel Gatchalian informed them [parents] of my whereabouts…If I go home with them, they have to cover my face,” Yanson stated in her affidavit.

She affirmed the testimony of Jinky, wife of Lowell Menorca, that they managed to roam around the INC compound and even went to the Philippine Arena with security escorts.

She said the Menorcas also allowed her to have days off.

“Nagpaalam po ako, pinayagan po akong lumabas pero sinasamahan ng guard,” Yanson said in her testimony before the Court of Appeals 7th Division.

When asked why she needs to have an escort, she said “baka daw po ako ma ano.”

“Yun po ang lagi nilang sinasabi, hindi ko po alam kung ano yung kukuha sa akin,” she said.

Yanson’s parents filed criminal complaint for illegal detention against the Menorcas for refusing to let their daughter leave.

But Yanson said before the Court of Appeals that she does not want to leave the Menorcas.

“Ayaw ko pong iwan sila Ka Lowell. Naisip ko po na baka ako naman ang kunin at isama sa kanila,” she said.

When asked if she thinks the Menorcas love her, she said “nararamdaman ko po.”

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