Iglesia ready to answer raps

MANILA, Philippines - The Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) yesterday vowed to address the allegations of former minister Lowell Menorca II who accused the religious group of kidnapping and illegal detention.

INC spokesman Edwil Zaballa said INC officials are ready to clear their names at the proper venue.

“The officials of the INC are surprised and saddened by the recent turn of events and the statements issued by Mr. Lowell Menorca II. They will address the allegations of Mr. Menorca in the proper venue, and are confident that if treated fairly by authorities, they will be given due process and the opportunity to establish their innocence and to clear their names,” said the statement released by INC’s legal counsel, Patricia Ann Prodigalidad.

Menorca told a press conference yesterday that armed men he identified as members of the Quezon City Police snatched him after a church service in Bulan, Sorsogon on July 17.

Menorca said he was brought to the INC central compound in Quezon City, where he was detained from July 25 to Oct. 21, 2015 together with his wife, Jinky Otsuka, their child, Yurie and househelp Abegail Yanson.

Menorca’s lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the former INC minister went through interrogation, threats and torture by the religious group before he was rescued.

In the course of his supposed detention, Menorca appeared in an interview aired on the INC-owned Net 25 in July, denying allegations he and his family had been abducted by the church and were being held against their will.

Menorca eventually recanted by posting a video posted online on Friday, saying the Net 25 interview was “scripted.”

The Supreme Court on Friday issued writs of habeas corpus and amparo, granting the petition of his brother Anthony to compel the INC leadership to produce Menorca before the Court of Appeals on Nov. 3.