ATTENTION DEFENDERS AND TRUE MEMBERS OF THE TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST!!!

Please be informed that as per Article II, Section 2 of the Amended By-Laws of the Iglesia ni Cristo, only the Executive Minister who is also the Presiding Elder of the Church have the power to decide on the expulsion and delistment of any erring minister, officer or member of the Church. 

This will come as a nerve-wracking shock to EVM and the Sanggunian specially Radel Cortez who signs the R2-10 forms accordingly “Sa Atas ng Tagapamahalang Pangkalahatan”.  The situation has become so convoluted we are at a quandary where to begin our dissecting probe.  First, allow me to show you the exact verbiage of the said Article and Section of the Amended By-Laws:

Article II

            Section 2.  Executive Minister or Presiding Elder -  the Executive Minister or Presiding Elder shall be the chief overseer of the whole religious flock.  He shall be the administrator of all properties and temporalities of the Church and as such, he shall be the official representative of the corporation, whose right of official representation may, however, be delegated by him to any officer or member of the Church by means of written instrument.  As such Executive Minister or Presiding Elder, he shall have the power to ordain ministers and shall have control and supervisory power over all the ministers and officers of the Church in matters of discipline and regulation of the religious corporation.  He has also the prerogative and power to make assignment and change of assignments of, and suspend and/or remove from office, any or all ministers and other officers of the Church in any manner that he may deem wise, fit and proper under the circumstances; TO DECIDE ON THE EXPULSION AND DELISTMENT OF ANY ERRING MINISTER, OFFICER OR MEMBER OF THE RELIGIOUS CORPORATION,  but the right to reprimand, chastise and punish erring members may be delegated by him to the corresponding District or Resident Ministers having jurisdiction over said minister, officer or member.  (capitalization and underscoring for emphasis mine).

It is clear that expulsion and delistment is a function of and prerogative reserved only to the Executive Minister.  The Church of Christ under the mentorship of the Last Messenger and our late beloved Brother Erano G. Manalo has taken good care of the flock in accordance with what is stated in the Bible.  They follow a very stringent process of expelling an erring member making sure that all available remedies are afforded the candidate for expulsion.  Reports of misconduct are validated and revalidated in all levels in the Church from the group, local, district up to the Central Office in an effort to insure the veracity of the facts presented in the report that are detrimental to one’s membership because delistment from the roster of the Church, as we all know is the equivalent of a death sentence which is eternal condemnation in the Lake of Fire on the day of Judgment.  In the book of Luke 15:4 New Living Translation this is documented:

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?”

Thus; guided by genuine care for the sheep entrusted to him by God, the sole function of expelling a member lies only at the hands of the Executive Minister.

One will readily say that it is the Executive Minister in the person of Brother Eduardo Manalo that decides on the expulsion of erring members so therefore every decision is above board and in accordance with the provisions of the By-Laws of the Church and the well-entrenched discipline that we have been implementing.

We find such argument so hard to swallow for it is a well-known fact that expulsions today by the Sanggunian come in different forms with the report coming only from the Resident Minister or someone close to him, no investigation, no validation of anything because there is nothing to validate.  Below are some very informal way of expulsion;  a complete 360 degree turnaround from the sacred process being done years prior: 

1.       Expulsion by text message

2.       Expulsion through the group overseer

3.       Express tiwalag

4.       Expulsion with a clear threat and intimidation

Another very interesting fact that is a must for everyone to know is that EVM is not the Executive Minister of the Church by virtue of the amendments to the Church’s Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws, of which section 4 states the following:

                Section 4.  Vacancy – In case of vacancy in the office of the Executive Minister or Presiding Elder, the Church Council shall convene and determine by election who shall be the successor.  However, the incumbent Executive Minister or Presiding Elder may convene the Church Council for the purpose of electing or choosing who shall be his successor.

In the history of the INC, whenever the Central Office does something that is of great significance to the Church, it almost always reverberates automatically and reaches the brethren all over the world.   An election to name the successor of Ka Erdy is one very important event for every concerned member of the Iglesia ni Cristo.  While it is true that in 1994 EVM was sworn in as the Deputy Executive Minister and eventually was elected as the successor of Brother Erano G. Manalo as executive minister, the same never created an impact or was unheard of during that time. 

However, for the sake of clarity, we want to inform the brethren that Brother Eduardo Manalo executed an Affidavit of Accession to Office immediately following the passing away of Brother Erano G. Manalo.  Below is the portion of his affidavit that was notarized by Atty. Restituto Lazaro on the 7^th of September 2009 and this is what is written in paragraph 3:

3.  On 6 May 1994, at the meeting of the Church Council and during the lifetime of then Executive Minister Erano G. Manalo, I was nominated and unanimously elected to the office of Deputy Executive Minister and Successor to the Executive Minister which is embodied in the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Church Council, specifically under Section G, on the “Nomination and Election of Successor”, pages five (5) to six (6), as certified by the IGLESIA NI CRISTO (Church of Christ) General Secretary as per Secretary’s Certificate, the copies of which are hereto attached and made integral parts hereof as Annexes “A” to “A-5” and “B” to “B-1” respectively.

And again, to make matters clear to all and to cut the story short, below is the exact verbiage of the portions of the Secretary’s Certificate being referred to in the said Affidavit of Accession to Office including all pertinent annexes thereto:

                G.  Nomination and Election of Successor:

The nomination was then opened by the Presiding Officer.  Minister Arnel A. Tumanan took to the floor and nominated Minister Eduardo V. Manalo and gave his reasons for the nomination.

Minister Bienvenido C. Santiago, Secretary for the Propagation of the Faith and at the same time representing the District Minister for Eastern Seabord then moved that the nomination be closed, seconded by Minister Homer Timico of Batangas.

Minister Richard Rodas, Secretary for Foreign Missions, and representing Ministers from Northern California, Southern California and Pacific Northwest, moved, duly seconded by Minister Vivencio M. Pineda, Secretary for Evangelical Studies to submit the election of Eduardo V. Manalo as Successor to the Executive minister to a vote.

The Presiding Officer then asked for objections to the motion and finding none, opted to submit the issue of naming Minister Eduardo V. Manalo as successor to the Executive Minister to a vote.

By the unanimous vote of all the members of the Church Council, Eduardo V. Manalo was elected as successor of the Executive Minister/Presiding Elder.

There you have it brethren, for the sake of transparency, I have laid everything to you.  It is correct, based on records that EVM was elected to succeed as Executive Minister.   However, it is worth mentioning that there were events and happenings that took place from the time of EVM’s election up until the time when Brother Erano G. Manalo introduced certain amendments to the INC’s Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws that are material to the expressed invalidation of EVM as successor.   What events transpired that were enough compelling reasons for the then Executive Minister to do such amendments considering that his successor has already been named?  Consider the following:

1.    EGM’s discovery of an organization in the Church called STF (Special Task Force) which he said will turn the Church away or lead us to an Apostasy.

2.    EGM’s instruction to EVM to dismantle the said organization but was not followed.

3.    EGM’s instruction not to allow Jojo de Guzman, one of the brains behind the formation of the STF to be part of the family was not followed.

4.    EGM’s discovery of fraudulent reports by so many ministers concerning propagation.

5.    Sister Babylin’s continued and unabated meddling in the internal affairs of the Church.

Brother Erano G. Manalo, the corporation sole of the Church of Christ is clothed with power and authority to undo whatever the Church Council has done.  The Council might have elected EVM to succeed him but the events described above are more than enough for the Executive Minister to invalidate such election.  We have from unimpeachable sources that EVM was to be expelled for what he has done but the Father in our beloved Brother Erano G. Manalo as well as the scandal that it will bring to the Church prevailed upon him.  Ministers who are privy to all that EVM did were of the opinion that perhaps his expulsion had it pushed through would have placed the whole Church at a better state. 

How did Bro. Eduardo react or take the amendments?   In his defiant self, barely a week after the death of Bro. Erano G. Manalo, it was then that he executed that Affidavit of Accession To Office in an absolute and total disregard of the amendments from his deceased father.  Instead of following the provisions of the By-Laws, he, in an utter show of arrogance ignored it.  This is the reason we know that Bro. Eduardo Manalo is not the legitimate Executive Minister of the INC and that since the demise of Ka Erdy, the Iglesia ni Cristo has no anointed leader from God to lead His nation toward salvation.  Likewise, we are of the opinion that the Church Council who was given the task of electing an Executive Minister did not do the duty that is mandated by the Church’s Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws for them to do and have therefore abdicated their duty and position to remain as the Church Council. 

We believe in our heart that Brother Erano G. Manalo is a leader from God as evidenced by how well he managed the Church during his tenure. Not once did we hear of stories from illustrious and well respected ministers of the gift of wisdom that our beloved brother possesses.  We are one in our conclusion that Ka Erdy is indeed inspired by the Holy Spirit the whole time he was our Executive Minister.  In fact we believe it was the Holy Spirit that showed him this cataclysmic event that is happening now in our dear holy Church. Everything he said came into fruition like:

a.       Ititiwalang nila kayo (referring to his family and they were indeed  expelled)

b.       Aapihin nila kayo (referring to his family again and oppression is still ongoing)

c.       Uumang ang pagtalikod (the true Church of Christ members saw this and are remaining vigilant so as a full blown apostasy will not happen).

The Church is now in disarray all because of what EVM and the corrupt Church Council did.  They are the ones who drag the Church into becoming the laughing stock of the world and as the Bible puts it, they have time and again been crucifying our Lord Jesus Christ.  But fear not my beloved brethren.  It was also our departed Executive Minister who declared that God Himself will put all things in order for us.   There’s light at the end of the tunnel because as promised by God in the book of the prophet Isaiah Chapter 1 :26

“I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”

Yes, brethren, God will restore the Church and give us new leaders.   It was God who promised and His promises are true. Meanwhile, let’s remain firm, hold on to our election for we are the remnants of the seed.  In God’s time we will reap the fruits of our labor.

May this humble piece enlighten and strengthen us.