Expelled INC members charged in court after raid wounds 2 cops
Expelled Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) members Angel Manalo, Lottie Manalo-Hemedez and 24 others are now in hot water for allegedly yielding undocumented guns during a raid in their residence at No. 36 Tandang Sora, Quezon City on Thursday.
QCPD director Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar said they will file charges against them for violating the RA 10591 or the Comprehensive law in Firearms and Ammunition Act.
The estranged siblings of INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo and 30 others residents of the disputed compound stayed the night at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) headquarters after they were rounded up in the raid.
Manalo, Hemedez and other expelled INC members were held for questioning in the QCPD’s District Public Safety Battalion (DPSB) office in Camp Karingal for allegedly yielding firearms of various calibers in their building.
They are also being probed for the gunshots that hit two policemen during the raid, Eleazar said.
Police Officer 2 Henry Escular and PO3 Joner Adasan were allegedly wounded following gunshots that rang out during the operation. Escular is still being treated for bullet wounds in the shoulder and stomach at the St. Luke’s Medical Center on E. Rodriguez Avenue, said Eleazar.
The QC police chief said they also seized a shotgun, an M-16 rifle, carbines, a rifle grenade, a caliber .40 pistol and a total of 104 bullets of various guns from the building.
Of the 32 residents gathered, three housemaids and two male minors were cleared of their involvement in the case. Eleazar said their relatives can fetch them from the DPSB office.
Charges will be filed against 16 men and 10 women – Manalo and Hemedez included – who will remain in police custody until a commitment order is sent to them by the courts.
Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Angeline Quimpo-Sale of Branch 106 issued a search warrant against Manalo, Hemedez and other occupants after three stay-in security guards at the INC compound claimed that tenants of the building fired shots on them last Monday afternoon.