Property dispute latest turn in Iglesia family feud

Lottie Manalo-Hemedez (right), expelled sibling of Iglesia Ni Cristo executive minister Eduardo Manalo, speaks to the media for the first time. Beside her is her lawyer Trixie Cruz- Angeles. FRANCES MANGOSING

The controversy rocking the Iglesia Ni Cristo’s founding family has now engendered a property dispute between the INC and Lolita Manalo Hemedez, the sister of INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo, over the ownership of No. 36 Tandang Sora, the Manalo family home.

The INC recently threatened to file an ejection case against Hemedez and her brother Angel, after Hemedez filed a falsification case against the INC, accusing the church of forging her and her late husband’s signatures on a deed of sale for the property last year.

Hemedez said she would hold the fort at the family home for “as long as it takes,” despite being made to feel like a prisoner in the home her family has known since the 1970s. She said the INC has fenced off buildings and posted armed guards within the residential compound.

Unbearable

“It’s unbearable. The windows have been covered. There’s no air. Half the time, I don’t know whether it’s day or night,” said Hemedez in the first media interview she gave since she, her siblings and their  mother were unceremoniously expelled from the church which their grandfather had founded.

Hemedez has also filed a barangay case for unjust vexation against the INC, for cutting off their electricity last December.

Hemedez said her mother, who is now under the care of another brother Marco, left her and Angel’s side last year before the controversy broke out. She has not been told where they are for their own safety, but is in constant communication with them.

Hemedez and Angel are the only siblings continuing to live in the family home at No. 36 Tandang Sora , which is adjacent to the INC Central compound.

She said she and her siblings and their mother continued to ask themselves why their own flesh and blood would cast them out without any explanation.

Not a family corporation

“We still don’t know. That’s why we want to talk to him (Eduardo). Why is he angry at us? What is the reason?” said Hemedez.

The INC on Saturday released a statement addressing the new allegations against the sect, prefacing it with a biblical verse, “Obedience is thicker than blood,” to emphasize its position that the INC was “not a family corporation” but a religion that is standing firm in obeying biblical teachings.

The INC, through its spokesperson minister Edwil Zabala, said Eduardo, the INC executive minister, had sworn to uphold these principles for the sake of all INC members, whether they are close relatives or not.

“We wish to reiterate that the INC is not a family corporation. It is a religion that stands firm in obeying God’s teachings in the Bible,” Zabala said.

Zabala explained that the biblical passage quoted in the INC statement, Matthew 12:47-50, contained what Christ said to stress how obedience to God’s teachings takes precedence over everything else.

“Bro. Eduardo V. Manalo, being the church’s executive minister, has sworn to uphold these principles, even in matters pertaining to his caring for his relatives, siblings and mother,” Zabala said.

In its statement, the INC “vehemently” denied what it called “malicious” allegations made by Hemedez, particularly her claim that the INC had falsified documents pertaining to the ownership of the contested lot at No. 36 Tandang Sora.