Lowell Menorca’s wife: ‘I stand by my man’

MANILA, Philippines – Jingky Otsuko Menorca, the wife of expelled Iglesia evangelical worker Lowell Menorca said Friday, February13, she stands by her man.

This was in the face of an adultery complaint filed by complainant Davis Flores also on Friday against his estranged wife, Aedtnavye Juntilla “AJ” Lazo, and Menorca before the Manila prosecutor’s office. In his affidavit-complaint, Flores said the two have had an adulterous affair since 2008, not long after his marriage to Lazo in May 2007.

In a statement, however, Jingky Menorca she said that from the time she married her husband to the time of their abduction in Sorsogon, they were a “normal happy couple.” The Menorcas have a child, now two years old. 

“Together, we lived a simple life in the province where Lowell was assigned. We didn’t have much but we were grateful and content living among the brethren in our small congregation. During our detention, everything changed for us because they took something very basic away from us – our freedom,” Jingky said.

After her twin sister Jungko filed for a writ of habeas corpus, which resulted in their rescue, powerful members of the Iglesia ni Cristo continued to “persecute and harass” them in “unimaginable ways.”

Jingky continued, “When they saw they couldn’t break us, they resorted to this vile and calculated scheme to embarrass and discourage Lowell. The timing of the legal case filed today is interesting because Lowell is about to testify again at the next hearing on the Amparo case.”

Standing by him

Addressing those behind what she referred to as continuing harassment and insinuations, she said, “Know this – I stand by my man. If you expect these concerted attacks on my husband to break either one of us, you are sadly mistaken.”

“The whole world will definitely expect more dirty tactics coming from you just to intimidate and harass us. You cannot be more obvious than this,” her statement said.

“Do your worst unimaginable dirty trick, use all your money, power and influence to kick us to the ground until there’s nothing left of us, but we will still rise up because we have God and the truth on our side.”

“You have definitely sunk to a new all-time-low with this one and we know that you will continue your attacks on us at all fronts. And if this is your version of ‘Christianity’, then may God have mercy on the next generation of ‘Christians’ you are going to raise,” Jingky said.

In his complaint-affidavit, Flores said he was shocked to find “incriminating pictures” of Menorca and Lazo posted online.

Before finding the pictures, Flores also said he had stumbled upon a blog with entries dating back to 2008. He claimed that Menorca had used aliases to hide their identities while he “proudly documented his adulterous affair” with his estranged wife.

Lowell Menorca himself has yet to release a statement, saying he has not seen the complaint-affidavit and would need to consult his lawyers. – Rappler.com