Expelled Manalos cry foul over harassment

MANILA, Philippines - Siblings Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo and Lolita “Lottie” Manalo, who continue to live at the Manalo compound after being expelled from the Iglesia Ni Cristo, are seeking a court order to stop the alleged harassment by the INC.

Lawyer Trixie Angeles submitted a motion at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 222 Monday afternoon, asking the court to order the INC to remove the guardhouse, portable toilets and surveillance cameras from the entrance of the compound on Tandang Sora Avenue.  

“We ask the court to return it to status quo ante before the hearings began, but instead what the petitioners have been doing is they’ve been using it rather as an excuse to continue and step-up the harassment,” Angeles told reporters.

Last week, the judge ordered both parties to work-out an arrangement since the court has yet to issue a temporary restraining order on the injunction filed by the INC, represented by minister Radel Cortez.

Angeles also said security guards have been delaying food deliveries for an average of “23 minutes” and the siblings received a notice of disconnection from the Manila Electric Co., with the bill amounting to P1.39 million. 

She said she believes the INC has no intention of evicting the siblings but to isolate them  as they have nowhere to go. 

Angel and Lottie were expelled from the INC by their brother, Eduardo – the present executive minister – as they allegedly caused division in the secretive church.

Angeles stood firm that the expelled Manalos are legal occupants of the compound because it was the INC that allowed them to live there.

INC lawyer Serafin Cuevas Jr. admitted that the Manalo compound is a property registered under the INC, “as far as certificates of titles are concerned” but has yet to confer with his client if the expelled Manalos can be considered illegal occupants.