Concerned INC members cry ‘human rights violation’

Milpitas, CA – Encouraged by the recent Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) legal victories in the US and the Philippines, some INC members in the Bay Area raised concerns over “internal problems that are human rights violations”, according

to an expelled INC minister. Former INC Minister Ka Louie Cayabyab said, “There were also victories on the part of the INC members that they do not bring up. In the Philippines, the libel cases against Bro. Jun Samson and Bro. Lito Fruto have also been thrown out. Here in California, the Restraining Order on the harassment case they filed against the Deocampos was also thrown out. In victories and defeats, we must be honest as Christians. We don’t lie after losing a court battle by telling the congregations we won as what the ministers were doing after their defeat. We accept it, move on and pick our battles correctly”.

Cayabyab, a veteran minister for more than 30 years, told FilAm Star in a phone interview, “This is no longer an internal issue since human rights are now being violated as well as the laws of the land”. Cayabyab was expelled from INC on July 25, 2015 after defying the order to read the unjustified expulsion letter of the widow of Ka Erano Manalo, Cristina “Tenny” Manalo and sons, shortly after their YouTube plea for help was posted a couple of days before Cayabyab’s expulsion. He said, “The court ordered the fences removed, the guard house and the guards as well. The court issued another order to stop construction of more fences yet the Sanggunian defied those orders as if they are above the law. The court wants to see Sis. Lottie’s testimony regarding the deed of her property and the alleged forgery that was revealed after the Sanggunian filed this TRO. Imagine that they perpetuated this transfer of ownership in April 2015 and was able to obtain the signature of Sis. Lottie’s husband who has been dead for more than two years! So there, another violation of the law and Yes, this is definitely a human rights issue”. Cayabyab continues to support the Concerned INC Members in the Bay Area’s claim that the internal problems led to human rights violation. “`Just imagine their living conditions: no electricity, no sunlight, no wind, metal sheet fences from the ground all the way to the roof top, no exit and entry except to climb up and down a tall ladder. That is a fire hazard! In addition, food, water and supplies will now have to go over those fences and walls to get to their homes. This must reach Human Rights International,” Cayabyab explained. Last week, FilAm Star reported on Virginia Beach US Judge Salvatore Loquinto’s ruling in favor of INC Minister Esteban Inocencio, denying former congregation member Lilibeth Rose’s petition to take back her weekly offerings. The group of Concerned INC Members in the US reacted to this by saying that, “This is no longer an internal problem of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, but it involves serious violation of human rights and a trampling of the justice system. Filipino citizens including ex-pats should be very concerned as the INC has chosen to thumb its nose on the law and if not arrested at this time, will surely become a bigger headache for the Philippine society sooner than later.” In this regard, some concerned INC members (confirmed by Cayabyab) in the US sent to this writer the following email message as a feedback to his column. Here are some choice excerpts: “I and my friends read your article about the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) in the Oct 1-7, 2015 issue of FilAm Star. Just like the rest of the INC, I am very dismayed and distraught about what happened in the past few years. And I can say there has been such a huge deterioration compared to how at least the high level ministers behaved back then compared to nowadays. Admittedly, the older ministers might be simpler and less sophisticated than those whom we now call “Fil-Am” ministers, but their core values and behaviors were in the right place. In recent days, the situation even between Eduardo V. Manalo (EVM), the executive minister of the INC, and those who continue to hold up the original doctrines and sound practices in the INC have gone from bad to worse. The former has ignored the internal reports of corruption and even alleged there is no such thing despite many documents and witnesses. Instead the reporters and whistle blowers were expelled… “Because they were expelled, they claimed that even the ancestral homes of Angel Manalo and Lottie Hemedez within the “compound of INC” belongs to their control and the siblings should leave. This was disputed alleging that this is a clear violation of their rights and a case of land grabbing. “This is quite untrue, as some of the houses within the compound, specifically #36 Tandang Sora Ave. Quezon City is titled under the name of the heirs of Ka Erano Manalo. The first few sample paperwork gives you a glimpse how the INC legal department tried to falsify documents by making it appear that the husband and wife (Edward Hemedez and Lottie Manalo-Hemedez) deeded over their property in April 2015”. “The problem(s) is that the deed of sale is obviously falsified because: (a) Edward Hemedez has died April 2013, two years ago. See death certificate versus date of alleged deed-of-sale; (b) the signatures do not match the signatories’ signatures; and (c) they did not sell their property at all. The testimony of Lottie Manalo-Hemedez in court has been delayed repeatedly and pushed back by INC lawyers.” Not content harassing the siblings, the defenders alleged that the INC has further turned their homes into a prison and curtailed their freedom. “First, they put up a “No Trespassing” sign in their compound to discourage brethren from visiting and helping the Manalos. Then they went to court claiming the INC has the right to put a restraining order on people coming into the Hemedez property. “Second, they installed a Guard House and a Portolet, preventing unobstructed passage. In fact, Bro. Jonjon Arellano, one of the driver/security guards of Bro. Angel recently died of cardiac arrest when there was difficulty to get doctors in to check up on him (the lawyer of the INC prevented it) and take him out of the house and into the vehicle outside to bring him to the hospital. “Third, and most recently, they decided to install Gulag-style walls made of galvanized irons (each at least 12-feet high and barbed wires) and attached to steel rods on each and every side and passageway among the sibling’s houses, thereby isolating them not only from one another but from most natural light and view, and even separating them from the kitchens of houses. They also cut electricity from the main compound to these houses”, the defenders alleged. “All these are plain and obvious persecution measures against the siblings who chose to speak against the corruption”. They also said, “It’s like being prisoners in your own house.”