Iglesia Ni Cristo minister nabbed in Cavite yet to be visited by kin

A Sorsogon-based Iglesia Ni Cristo volunteer minister who was arrested in Dasmariñas, Cavite is yet to be visited by his family, GMA 7 news program "24 Oras" reported on Friday.



Lowell Menorca II's lawyer, Allen Blair Boy of the New Era University Legal Aid, said that Menorca preferred to keep a low profile and thus declined to comment on his case. "My client instructed me as of now, po, just to silent with his case, po. He wants his private life back," he said.

A few days before Menorca surfaced, a blog post written by an Antonio Ebanghelista said that the volunteer minister and his family were abducted by armed men. Menorca's relatives in Sorsogon confirmed this to GMA News.

However, the religious group has denied the allegations.

Menorca has been detained at the Dasmariñas City Police Station for a week after he allegedly threatened two people with a grenade.

According to the complainants Edwin Naling and Delfin Padua, both of whom said they were from Barangay Emmanuel I, Menorca threatened them with a grenade on July 17 while they were waiting for a jeep on the Aguinaldo Highway.

"Nagtakbuhan po ang ilan. Agad ko na ring hinawakan ang kabilang kamay ng lalake habang nagsisigaw ako at humingi ng tulong kaya lumapit at humawak na rin iyong ibang taong hindi tumakbo tapos tuluyang naagaw ni Edwin iyong granada," Padua's complaint stated.

The police investigators were still going through footage from closed circuit television cameras along the road to check if the said incident was caught on video.

GMA News tried to look get in touch with the complainants but Barangay Emmanuel I residents said they did not know anyone named Naling or Padua.

Neither could their names be found in the list of those who obtained a barangay clearance. Their names also did not appear in the voter's list. — Trisha Macas/DVM, GMA News