Iglesia ni Cristo expels Manalo family members after video claims lives in danger

A video uploaded to YouTube has exposed a feud within the family of Felix Manalo, who founded the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC, Church of Christ) in 1914. The controversy broke out as the congregation was preparing to mark its centenary on Monday. The video shows Felix Nathaniel Angel Manalo, son of the late Erano Ka Erdy Manalo, asking the public for help and saying that their lives were in danger, though he gave no details. “We are asking for your help because our lives are in danger. We’re hoping that you could help us,” he said.

A second segment shows a picture of Angel’s mother, Cristina Tenny Manalo, who purportedly made a similar appeal on behalf of her children, Angel and Lolita Lottie Manalo Hemedez, and for ministers who were abducted and remain missing. Tenny is the mother of the INC’s current executive minister, Eduardo Manalo, who succeeded his father after Ka Erdy’s death in 2009. Ka Erdy had led the church for 46 years. In the video, Tenny also made a personal appeal to her son: “To my son, Eduardo, I hope that we could talk.”

Hours after the video spread online, an INC official held a news conference and announced the expulsion of Tenny and her children from the congregation for allegedly sowing disharmony among members. A church circular dated July 23, signed by minister of the gospel Radel Cortez, ordering the expulsion of members of the Manalo family was posted on Facebook later that day. Cortez did not explain why Tenny and her children had been expelled. The circular was reportedly read aloud at INC services on Thursday. Marco Eraño Manalo was also named among those expelled.

At the news conference, INC general evangelist Bienvenido Santiago said that Eduardo Manalo “will not allow anybody to sow discord within the church” and that, although it was painful, he had decided to expel those who created division. Santiago denied the claims made in the video, saying there was “no truth” to the suggestion that the church had any role in the alleged danger or abductions. He said the video was an attempt by a faction of the Manalo family to win sympathy from members and that its real aim was to meddle in church management. “Everybody should know that the Iglesia is not a family corporation,” he said, adding that the church follows the rules and lessons of God according to the Bible. In keeping with the church’s regulations, Santiago said, the family members would be sanctioned as the church does for all.

A handful of supporters of Cristina and her children went to the Manalo residence in Tandang Sora, Quezon City, to ask INC leaders to show mercy to the Manalo family and to the ministers involved. Reporters and photographers gathered at the residence, where an unidentified person displayed a sign alleging that people in a black Revo with a specified plate number were “among those who are oppressing us.” Because a family divided by such a dispute is a painful thing, Tenny’s request to talk with her son stands as a plea for reconciliation (Romans 12:18).

Other claims have circulated without independent confirmation. A GMA News online report quoted a web log by a person named Antonio Ebangelista, who claimed that the INC leadership had expelled nine ministers from Sorsogon, Cebu and Bulacan, and that some were being tortured in police camps while their families were prevented from speaking about the expulsions. The blog named ministers it said were held hostage and others it said were expelled. The lawyer for one minister reported as missing has denied that his client was abducted. According to Allen Blair Boy, who said he was with the INC Legal Aid, the minister, Lowell Rabasa Menorca 2nd, was arrested by police in Dasmariñas, Cavite, for allegedly being involved in a melee and possessing a grenade. The lawyer said his client was a native of Bulan, Sorsogon, and lives in Dasmariñas City.

Later, a text message purportedly sent by activist Mae Paner, also known as Juana Change, circulated. It read: “Urgent!!! Missing INC Minister found. His name s Lowell Memorca. He is to tell all. Please go NOW to Dasmarinas CAVITE city jail beside city hall before they take him out.”

Source: Read the original report