At around 9am on Wed, Jan 20, Ex-Iglesia ni Cristo minister Lowell Menorca was on his way to a hearing at the Court of Appeals, when police officers in civilian clothes tried to serve him an arrest warrant for a libel case served by a court in Katapagan, Lanao del Norte.
He resisted, asking the arresting officers to show him the warrant but they refused. According to Menora, his wife Jinky grabbed the warrant but did not see his name on it.
According to Inquirer.net, the standoff happened at the corner of Quirino Avenue and Roxas Boulevard. Around 20 people were deployed at the scene.
“May hearing ako ngayon. Ito talaga ang proof na ayaw nila akong magsalita. Kasi pinipigilan nila ako. Sinabi nila sa akin na kapag hindi ako tumigil, ipakukulong nila ako. Ito na yun,” Menorca said, implying it was a move by INC.
But the powerful church denies having any hand in the arrest. In an interview with dzMM, INC spokesperson Edwil Zabala said they church cannot be implicated in the said arrest as INC had already expelled Menorca.
“Tiniwalag na po namin si Mr. Menorca sa Iglesia ni Cristo. Sapat na po yun sa panig ng Iglesia. That’s the most that can be done po as far as the membership in the church is concerned,” Zabala said.
Menorca waited for his lawyer, Atty Trixie Angeles, before turning himself over to the police for booking procedures at around 10am.
