No vigil outside Angel Manalo’s residence

Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Villanueva Manalo speaking to the media after denying hostage reports early Friday. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo’s appeal to the members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) to hold a vigil outside his residence on Tandang Sora Avenue in Quezon City amid the controversy surrounding the religious sect apparently fell on deaf ears.

As of 2 a.m. Saturday, not a single member from the third largest religious group in the country was seen camping out the Manalo residence, where calls for help were seen posted in one of its windows on Thursday.

Early Friday morning, Angel, the brother of INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo, spoke to media two days after he was expelled from the INC, urging its members to hold a vigil to send a “strong statement” amid the seeming leadership crisis in the INC.

Angel, his mother Cristina “Tenny” Villanueva Manalo, brother Marco Erano Villanueva Manalo and sister Lolita “Lottie” Manalo Hemedez were expelled from the INC the other day—a move seen to be a way to quell dissent in the indigenous Christian group. At least 10 INC ministers were reportedly held under “house arrest.”

At least two late-night deliveries of supplies from concerned INC members were sent to the residence Friday night. The first was a delivery at around 10 p.m. of 20 boxes of bottled water, which as of writing still remains outside the Manalo residence.

The second was a delivery at 12:30 a.m. of toiletries and what appeared to be groceries. The driver of the Toyota Revo, who seemed to have a contact inside the house, waited for at least five minutes before unloading the supplies, which was immediately brought inside the residence.

The driver didn’t give further details other than that the supplies came from a concerned INC member.

Taking the place of the INC members whom Angel called on for a vigil were the around eight policemen stationed in the area and the news crews from different media organizations, awaiting developments in what may be considered the biggest controversy to rock the religious sect, which will celebrate its 101st anniversary on Monday.

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