YEARENDER: Trouble at INC divides Manalo clan; members shut down EDSA

MANILA, Philippines – A controversy rocked the century-old Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) in 2015 following an internal dispute involving its leaders that resulted in mass protests that shut down EDSA in August.

Portions of the country’s busiest thoroughfare was closed on the night of Aug. 28 – a rainy, payday Friday before a long weekend – when thousands of members of INC moved their protests from the Department of Justice (DOJ) central office to EDSA Shrine in Ortigas.

They were protesting the alleged special attention given by then DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima on the serious illegal detention case filed against some members of the Sanggunian, the church’s council of leaders.

The protests may be traced back to the internal dispute among INC leaders, particularly members of the Manalo family, which started to gain public attention a month before.

On the night of July 22, media organizations received a vague warning from an anonymous caller warning of a kidnapping that would happen at 36 Tandang Sora Avenue in Quezon City.

The address, which has several houses on it, is the residence of the wife and the children of the INC’s late founder, Eraño Manalo. It is part of the bigger property where the INC central temple is located.

Some INC members – mostly unaware of what was happening – started gathering outside the property.

Plea for help

The following day, July 23, a 1:54-minute video featuring Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo – brother of INC minister Eduardo Manalo – circulated online.

“My brethren in the Church of Christ, I am calling on you because our lives are in danger. We hope you could help us,” Angel said in Filipino.

He then introduced an audio recording, supposedly of his mother Christina or Tenny, the widow of Eraño.

“I am appealing to our brethren in the church to help us because there is a threat to our lives. Please help my children, Angel and Lottie, and their companions. Let us help the ministers who were taken hostage and have not yet been found. Let us show mercy to them and their families,” Tenny said in Filipino.

Lottie is Lolita Manalo-Hemedez, a sister of Angel and Eduardo.

On the same day, INC general evangelist Bienvenido Santiago announced that the leadership decided to expel Tenny, Angel and Lottie for creating divisions within the church along with other INC ministers .

Power struggle?

Amid the issues among the Manalo clan, sources confirmed that there had been attempts to take control of the leadership of the politically influential religious group.

Santiago implied that the video could be part of a possible power grab ploy.

“(They want to) interfere in the administration of the church,” Santiago said in Filipino.

Hours after being expelled from the church, various made-up signs were seen at a window where Angel and his family were staying. Among the messages was a plea for help as they were supposedly held hostage inside the INC-owned property.

But on the same night, Angel spoke to members of the media and stressed that it was the anomalies – and not an attempt to undermine the leadership – that pushed them to release the video.

“We have not seen anomalies during the time of Felix Manalo and Bro. Eraño Manalo. Why are there anomalies now?” said Angel, referring to his grandfather and brother, respectively.

“There are anomalies. There are corrupt practices within the church. We don’t want that,” he added.

Asked to elaborate, Angel said there are unnecessary infrastructure projects the INC has undertaken in the past years, including the P7.8-billion Philippine Arena in Bulacan.

“Our priority should be to construct chapels… Our funds for the (construction of) chapels are depleting,” he said.

When asked about the messages, Angel dismissed it as a joke, saying there is a child among them who might have been affected by the situation and wanted to send a message.

He clarified they were not held hostage, but reiterated reports that there are ministers supportive of them who are missing.

Lies, empty claims

INC spokesman Edwil Zabala expressed incredulity over the allegations made by Angel, who said members of the Sanggunian have issued threats against them.

 “They are just trying to ride the attention as we are about to celebrate our anniversary,” he said.

Zabala took exception with the clarification on the signs posted at the Manalo residence, describing it as a bad joke. 

The church earlier denied claims that the lives of Angel and his family are in danger, as well as the allegations that some of the ministers were kidnapped.

Several days later, expelled minister Isaias Samson filed a serious illegal detention case against members of the Sanggunian before the DOJ.

De Lima vowed to look into the matter, prompting INC members to flock to the DOJ main office to protest the alleged preferential treatment on the case against their leaders.

Despite not having permits from the local governments of Mandaluyong and Quezon City, thousands of INC members pushed through with the protests on EDSA.

Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos later allowed them to stay at the intersection of EDSA and Shaw Boulevard, but requested them to leave and return to Manila – where they have a permit until the first week of September – by Aug. 31.

The return to Manila, however, did not push through after the INC leadership ended the protests on the same day following negotiations with the government.

The sudden turn of events came as a surprise, with the government denying allegations that there had been a deal between the two camps.

Court battle

The DOJ has since dismissed the case filed by Samson against the INC leaders.

But aside from him, another expelled minister – Lowell Menorca – has lodged charges against the church leadership.

His camp secured writs of amparo and habeas corpus from the Supreme Court, which ordered the Court of Appeals to hear the case.

Menorca claimed that he and his family were illegally detained by the church.

For its part, the INC has filed several libel charges against some of its expelled ministers for supposedly putting the church in a bad light.

The church filed a petition for injunction asking a Quezon City court to prevent strangers from entering the residence where Angel and Lottie are residing.

The case remains pending before the court.