SC orders INC execs to produce 'abducted' minister

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the top officials of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) to produce the allegedly abducted minister of the religious sect.

The high court issued writs of amparo and habeas corpus against INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo, asking him to appear before the Court of Appeals (CA).

The CA was ordered to decide on the petition filed by Anthony Menorca and Jungko Otsuka.

Menorca, brother of minister Lowell Menorca, and Otsuka, twin sister of Lowell's wife, Jinky, filed the nine-page petition for the issuance of writs of amparo and habeas corpus against top INC ministers.

Lowell Menorca, his family and househelp are allegedly being kept at the INC central office in Quezon City.

"...respondents Eduardo Manalo, Radel Cortez, Bienvenido Santiago and Rolando Esguerra, are hereby required to make a verified return of these writs before the Court of Appeals... and appear and produce the persons of Lowell II Menorca, Jinky Otsuka-Menorca, Yuire Keiko Otsuka and Abegail Yanson," the SC said.

The SC ordered the INC officials to appear before the CA hearing on November 3. The CA is yet to decide on the petitioners' request.

Petitioners Menorca and Otsuka claimed that the INC was responsible for the abduction of the minister and the illegal detention against him and his family.

A writ of amparo is "a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity."

Meanwhile, a writ of habeas corpus is a court order which gives a person the right to seek relief from unlawful detention.

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