Ceres Doyo is absolutely right with her analysis on what’s going on inside the Iglesia ni Cristo (“‘Je suis Ebangelista,’” Opinion, 10/29/15). The council members running the Church right now have flagrantly violated INC teachings and doctrines on compassion, love, honesty, humility and caring for their fellow brethren. They have instituted their dreaded “Express Expulsion” to instill fear among the members who might dare to question their activities. There is no more accountability with respect to the offerings and the council leaders continue to flaunt their palatial abodes, flashy cars, and frequent shopping trips abroad. They are feasting on the hard-earned offerings of the brethren and spending them on programs and projects that have no bearing on the INC’s original core of doctrines and principles.
I can understand their reasoning behind this facade of lies, threats and innuendos. The INC is a multibillion-peso enterprise! It is generating millions in pesos (and dollars) twice-a-week in offerings, and anyone exerting efforts to slow down this cash flow would be met with swift justice in whatever shape or form, to the extreme if necessary.
But because of its perceived unity during elections, INC leaders have influence on government leaders. A typical example is the kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges filed by Jun Samson. The complaint is languishing on someone’s desk at the
Department of Justice. (This letter was written before the DOJ was reported as having dismissed the complaints.—Ed.) Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa should be called to task on this issue since he brokered the withdrawal of INC members from further creating chaos on Edsa.
This lack of action on the case speaks volumes on how the Aquino administration is handling the INC. Not only is this administration in fear of losing the INC’s support, it is also conspiring with the INC to violate the law with impunity. A serious crime has been committed and, under our Constitution and laws, it is the duty and obligation of this administration to seek justice against the perpetrators and not conspire with them. Some high-ranking police officials, they who are supposed to be our guardians and protectors against any threat to life and property, have even been reported to be the perpetrators themselves of some of these crimes. What an irony! I thought no one is above the law! Apparently this is not true, not when the INC is involved.
May I thank Doyo for her column. I am inspired more than ever now to continue raising consciousness on what is really happening inside the INC to which I used to belong—for nearly four decades.
—JESSICA SCOTT