LAND ROW Lolita “Lottie” Manalo-Hemedez, expelled sister of Iglesia ni Cristo executive minister Eduardo Manalo, appears at a Quezon City Regional Trial Court for a hearing involving a land dispute. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
A TWO-HECTARE lot on Tandang Sora Avenue in Quezon City that the religion sect Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) claims as its property is actually owned by executive minister Eduardo Manalo’s sister, who was expelled in July, and her husband.
Making a rare public appearance, Lolita “Lottie” Manalo-Hemedez was supposed to testify in a Quezon City Regional Trial Court about this matter Monday but her testimony was rescheduled on Dec. 16.
The hearing was in connection with the petition the INC filed in September asking the Quezon City RTC Branch 222 to bar visitors of Hemedez and her brother, Angel Manalo, from entering the compound at No. 36 Tandang Sora Avenue, where the lot is located.
Expelled from INC
The siblings have been holed up in the compound after they were expelled from the INC amid allegations of corruption in the sect and the abduction of ministers critical of the INC governing council.
The crisis in the INC administration went public on July 22, after a video posted on the Internet showed Cristina “Tenny” Manalo, widow of former INC executive minister Eraño Manalo, and son Angel calling for help and claiming that their lives were in danger. Like her son, Tenny Manalo has since been expelled from the INC.
In earlier hearings, the INC leadership presented witnesses detailing that it owned the compound.
Explosive
In Hemedez’s stead, expelled minister Isaias Samson, who accompanied her to the court, gave the public an idea of the “explosive” revelation she was supposed to make in court.
Speaking to the media after the hearing and acting as spokesperson of Hemedez, Samson questioned the INC ownership of the compound on Tandang Sora.
Samson, in particular, cast doubts on the “authenticity” of a deed of sale transferring the property to INC earlier this year.
“Based on documents, we believe No. 36 is owned by sister Lottie Manalo-Hemedez and her deceased husband. You must remember brother Edward Hemedez died way back on April 16, 2013. And then suddenly, there’s a deed of sale he supposedly signed on April 23, 2015,” Samson said.
Dead man ‘signed’ document
“So can you imagine? More than two years after, a dead man signed a document? That’s not a deed of sale. That’s a ‘dead of sale,’” said the former INC minister.
“I think they are trying to prevent Ka Lottie from taking the witness stand, because she has something explosive to say,” said Samson, who claimed he and his family had escaped on July 23 after being placed under house arrest by the INC governing council in his own home.
Samson, former editor in chief of INC’s official publication Pasugo (God’s Message), was accused of posting articles against the council online under the pen name Antonio Ebangelista. He denied the allegation.
“If they’re not hiding anything, why not just allow her to testify? … If her testimony is incorrect, then they can just debunk it,” Samson said.
Hemedez herself refused to be interviewed after the hearing.
Defer testimony
The lawyer for INC, Serafin Cuevas Jr., denied that his camp was trying to prevent Hemedez from testifying, explaining it just asked the court to defer her testimony pending the resolution of its motion.
Cuevas said the motion to expunge the opposing camp’s comment against the general case was based on the Manalo siblings’ submission of comment to the petition for injunction beyond the prescribed period.
During the hearing on Monday, the Manalo siblings’ lawyers asked for time to respond to the motion to expunge.
Cuevas noted that the INC camp had not received Hemedez’s judicial affidavit, because her lawyers had yet to have it notarized.
Informed of Samson’s questions regarding the compound’s ownership, Cuevas said: “It is irrelevant here. We are not arguing on the ownership. In a way, their camp admits to [the INC’s ownership]. They only raised this of late. We don’t think these arguments are pertinent. If we need to answer it, we will answer it at the right time.”
‘Not right, just privilege’
Cuevas maintained, however, that the compound was owned by the INC. “If [the Manalo siblings] were allowed to stay there, it’s because they’re family [of former executive minister] Eraño [“Erdy”] Manalo. But now that there’s a new executive minister, it is up to him whether he will allow them to stay there, or whether they will be transferred.”
“It’s not a right, it’s just their privilege because they’re Ka Erdy’s family. But if INC wants that property back, they can’t hold it back,” Cuevas said.