Prosecutor recommends illegal gun possession charges vs expelled INC members

FILE – Expelled INC member Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Villanueva Manalo (Contributed file photo)

The Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office has recommended that charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition be filed against expelled Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) members Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo and Victor Erano Manalo-Hemedez for the loose weapons that were found inside the Manalo home within the INC compound on March 2.

Charges of direct assault with frustrated murder are also recommended for Jonathan Ledesma, who reportedly shot PO2 Henry Hular and PO3 Joemarie Oandasan, members of the Special Reaction Unit of Quezon City Police District (QCPD), during the implementation of a search warrant at No. 36 Tandang Sora Avenue compound.

In the resolution signed by Assistant City Prosecutor Nilo Peñaflor, no bail has been recommended to the younger brother of INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo, who is “admittedly the owner/occupant of the house where the subjected firearms were seized.”

Meanwhile, Manalo Hemedez may post bail for his violations on the Republic Act No. 10951, or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunitions.

The cases of the 24 others who were rounded up by the QCPD and remained behind bars in the Criminal Investigation and Detection were “recommended for further investigation.”

Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, QCPD director, said the police will be processing the release of the group as soon as possible.

“The three who are charged will stay with us (until the commitment order is released or they post bail),” he said.

Eleazar noted that Manalo’s admission of owning the residence may have been the basis of the prosecutor for the nonbailable offense.

Manalo, along with 32 others, were rounded up two weeks ago during a raid on their residence. Two police officers were wounded during the operation. After the release of two minors and three women who were not residents of the Manalo home, the 27 individuals were placed behind bars at the QCPD headquarters in Camp Karingal.

Police reportedly discovered several high-powered firearms in the residence, including a shotgun, an M16 rifle, a rifle grenade and over a hundred bullets.

Manalo’s camp has yet to issue a statement on the matter. The INC property has been embroiled in a dispute since 2015, and became the subject of a court contest between the INC leadership and the expelled Manalo and his sister Lottie.