Lottie Hemedez

The 2015 Iglesia ni Cristo leadership controversy is a dispute between senior members of the Christian denomination Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) in the Philippines. In July 2015, it was reported that the INC had expelled some of its ministers, along with high-profile members Felix Nathaniel "Angel" and Cristina "Tenny" Manalo. Angel is the brother of current INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo and Tenny is the mother of Eduardo, and widow of former Executive Minister Eraño Manalo.

Angel and Tenny were expelled from the INC for "sowing disunity" in the Church. The INC administration released a statement claiming that Eduardo had agreed to the expulsion of his brother and mother from the INC, as decided upon by its overall leadership. However, both Angel and Tenny claimed their lives were threatened by the Iglesia administration. Angel and Tenny had reportedly been illegally detained at the Iglesia's Central Office Complex in Tandang Sora, Quezon City, and that at least ten ministers of the Church were missing and alleged to have been abducted.

Former INC ministers Roel Rosal and Isaias Samson, Jr., claimed that the Sanggunián (the highest administrative council of the INC) had unlawfully abducted and detained ministers, along with members of the Manalo family, to cover up corruption surrounding the chief auditor, Glicerio "Jun" Santos, Jr. On July 24, 2015, INC, represented by Glicerio B. Santos, IV, head counsel and son of Santos, Jr. filed a libel complaint against Samson. Detained INC minister Lowell Menorca stated that he was forcibly detained by the INC administration, and was kidnapped at gunpoint by police officers in the employ of INC leaders and was forced to deny his captivity under duress.

On July 22, 2015, a video was uploaded to YouTube featuring Felix Nathaniel "Angel" Manalo, the brother to nominal INC leader Eduardo V. Manalo and a former General Manager of GemNet (formerly the TV station of INC, replaced by INCTV), along with his mother, Cristina "Tenny" Manalo, the widow of Eraño Manalo. In the video, they claimed their lives had been threatened by the Iglesia leadership, along with that of Angel's sister, Lottie Hemedez. Tenny Manalo also claimed that there had been a mass kidnapping of ministers who had not been accounted for, implying that their disappearance somehow traced to the INC leadership, and that she had not been able to speak to Eduardo V. Manalo.

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Wikipedia