Lowell Menorca, former minister of the international religious group Church of Christ known as Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) In the Philippines, was arrested by cops in Manila, who were led by Superintendent Ed Leonardo, the Manila Polcie District Station 10 chief and a member of INC.
The timing was questioned because the arrest took place on Jan. 20, Wednesday, while Menorca was on his way to the Court of Appeals (CA) for a hearing on the illegal detention case he filed in 2015 against INC.
Before reaching the CA, Menorca and his companions were accosted by men at the corner of Nakpil Street and Taft Avenue along Roxas Boulevard, a waterfront promenade in Manila. The men told Menorca that there is an arrest warrant against him but the former resisted and was stopped at the corner of Quirino Avenue and Roxas Boulevard, GMA News has learned.
The men, who turned out to be cops, refused to show the alleged arrest warrant to Menorca. Also, the said arrest warrant indicated an alias instead of the name of the former INC minister.
Eventually, at least 20 policemen in uniform later showed up in the area to arrest Menorca along Manila Police District (MPD) director Chief Supt. Rolando Nana who convinced him to submit himself to the police. Leonardo confirmed that the arrest warrant was based on a libel case filed in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur and pointed out that the arrest warrant is bailable.
"Para lang makalapit pero may mga nakapalibot na pulis (So that we can get near but there are policemen around the area)," ABS-CBN quoted Leonardo as saying. He was explaining why he allowed policemen in plainclothes to accost Menorca because they wanted to make sure he would not elude arrest.
For Menorca, there is a clear case of conflict of interest with Leonardo's involvement because he a member of the INC. The former INC minister added that Nana, not Leonardo, should have led the arrest.
Menorca's attorney Trixie Cruz-Angeles emphasized that the timing of the arrest was suspicious considering that her client was set to take the witness stand at the CA for his petition for writs of amparo and habeas corpus.
In 2015, INC set two Guinness World Records, which are largest mixed-used indoor theater for the Philippine Arena with 51,929 attendees and the largest gospel choir with 4,745 members. Watch a video of the INC choir singing here: