Ex-Iglesia minister Lowell Menorca skips Court of Appeals hearing

Expelled Iglesia ni Cristo minister Lowell Menorca skipped a hearing at the Court of Appeals on Monday morning, his lawyer said.

Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles, Menorca's lawyer, told GMA News Online that they informed the court on Monday that the last time they heard from their client was at 8 p.m. Sunday.

However, she stopped short of saying that Menorca was missing.

"We never made a conclusion that Menorca is missing. What we did is we just informed the Court (of Appeals) of the circumstances that happened last night. That we last talked to Mr. Menorca at 8 p.m. last night," Angeles told GMA News Online after the CA hearing on Menorca's plea for protection scheduled at 10 a.m.

She said Menorca called her up last night to tell her that he and his family were at the airport and about to leave when they were stopped by airport officials.

"Sabi ko hindi kayo makakaalis kasi may hold departure order kayo. Pero sabi niya, pinayagan na raw sila umalis. So basta sabi ko, tumawag sila uli sa akin 'pag paalis na sila. Pero hindi na sila uli tumawag," said the lawyer.

Angeles said in response to her manifestation, the CA ordered the Menorca camp to put in writing and submit to the court what transpired on Sunday night, so it could issue the proper order for airport and immigration officials to determine the Menorcas' whereabouts.

Death threat

In his supposed "official" FB page, Menorca posted around 4 a.m. Monday a photo of the death threat they had received.

In the photo was Menorca, his wife Jinky Otsuka-Menorca, and their daughter, with her face crossed out.

Printed on the photo were the words: "March 7, 2016. Say goodbye!!! - Mandirigma."

"Somebody left this at the windshield of our car in our safehouse," Menorca said in his post.

"This time they have gone too far. I'm begging you... please leave my daughter alone!!!," he ended.

The Court of Appeals Seventh Division is set to ask the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Immigration to locate Menorca.

Court of Appeals 7th Division to order PNP, BID to trace Menorca's whereabouts.

— Lia Del Castillo (@LiaManalac) March 7, 2016

Menorca was expelled from the Iglesia ni Cristo for allegedly spreading lies against the organization.

The CA hearing stems from a pending petition for amparo and habeas corpus filed by Lowell's brother Anthony and Jinky's sister Jungko against INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo, and several other officials of the church group, who allegedly illegally detained Lowell, Jinky and their daughter.

Anthony had earlier alleged that had could not get in touch with Lowell, also known as Ka Boyet, who was arrested in Cavite in July for supposedly threatening commuters with a hand grenade.

Lowell was released on July 25 after the complainants against him signed affidavits of desistance.

The nine-page petition by Anthony and Jungko claimed Lowell was "forcibly" taken by armed men on July 16, 2015 after a church service at the Iglesia ni Cristo chapel in Bulan, Sorsogon.

His wife, Jinky, also eventually "surrendered" to the INC Sanggunian, the church's highest advisory body, after Esguerra told her over the phone "in a very menacing manner" that she would never see her husband again if she would not appear at the Iglesia ni Cristo Central Office in Quezon City.

Jungko claimed she was eventually allowed to visit her sister Jinky "after months of incarceration" inside the Iglesia ni Cristo Central Compound, where she allegedly witnessed the "horribly stressful conditions in which Lowell, Jinky and their company were in."

Jungko said while they were not kept inside prison cells, her sister and her family were not allowed to wander about inside the Iglesia ni Cristo compound.

The petition claimed three months of incarceration had already taken its toll on the Menorca family, with the members gradually developing emotional and psychological stress.

In January, before Menorca could testify during a hearing at the Appellate court, he was arrested for a libel case filed by a group. He later posted bail. — KG/RSJ, GMA News