5 injured as followers of 2 religious sects clash

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — At least five followers of the religious sect Ang Dating Daan were injured, one of them seriously, during a brawl with members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) in Apalit town last Monday night, police said.

Superintendent Gil Lebin, regional chief of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, said the group of Ang Dating Daan followers had just stepped out of a fastfood outlet in Barangay Poblacion when the INC members allegedly ganged up on them.

Lebin identified the victims as Amancio Tan Jr., 40; Carlo Alcantara, Arthur Gatbonton, Ruben Batino and Richard Santillan.

Tan suffered deep cuts in the head and bruises all over his body, while Alcantara remains unconscious in an undisclosed hospital, he said.

Tan told reporters that they decided to go home after a heated exchange of religious views with the rival group.

However, he claimed that the other group blocked them as they went out of the fastfood outlet, and punched and clubbed them using a lead pipe.

Cooler heads intervened and those hurt were rushed to the hospital, Tan said.

Police were investigating which group provoked the debate which Tan said was unplanned.