Men shoot up resto of ousted minister’s nephew

For his articulate, feisty opinions on all topics under the sun, the popular broadcaster has maintained his silence on the power struggle roiling his church that came to light in late July when the mother and brother of Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) executive minister Eduardo Manalo posted a video on YouTube asking for help, saying their lives were in danger.

But on Friday, broadcaster Anthony Taberna spoke up if vaguely.

The shooting of his newly opened coffee shop may or may not be related to the increasingly acrimonious conflict within the INC church involving Taberna’s uncle, the recently expelled minister Isaias Samson Jr.

READ: Gunmen fire at coffee shop owned by broadcaster Anthony Taberna

Police said they have no information if the shooting was related to the internal quarrels in the indigenous Christian sect, but that “all leads will be investigated.”

Taberna himself said he did not think the shooting at his cafe was related to the disputes in his church, whose top leaders were recently sued for illegal detention by his uncle, Samson.

“I don’t think so, from whatever angle I look at it. I have had no contacts with my uncle since he came out [with his charges against the INC leaders]. Of course we are blood relations, he is the first cousin of my mother,” Taberna said in an interview with Radyo Inquirer.

The glass-fronted two-story Ka Tunying’s Cafe on 88 Visayas Avenue, Barangay Vasra, was strafed with gunfire at about 2 a.m. yesterday by two still unidentified gunmen who fled in separate motorcycles driven by their accomplices.

No one was reported hurt in the shooting, which was caught by security cameras. The coffee shop’s security guard, who was inside the closed establishment, was far from the gunfire and was unhurt.

Meant to intimidate

According to police investigators, one of the gunmen had approached the security guard of an adjacent establishment to ask if he was armed. After the security guard showed that he didn’t have a gun, the assailants started firing.

Investigators found 15 pieces of .45-cal. shell casing which they said would be subjected to a ballistic and cross-matching examination.

Chief Insp. Rodelio Marcelo, the head of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said police are still investigating the reason for the shooting which looked as if it was meant to intimidate Taberna.

“We can say that it was a case of harassment. But for what reason, we don’t know yet. Most probably, it was related to his work as a broadcaster,” Marcelo said.

Samson, the former editor in chief of the Iglesia newsletter, came out and claimed irregularities in the administration’s handling of church funds. He also accused the INC Sanggunian, or council, of placing him and members of his family under house arrest in his own home.

On Thursday, about 3,000 members of the INC staged a protest in front of the Department of Justice to protest the “extraordinary attention” given by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to the illegal detention case filed by Samson against church leaders.

First salvo

Taberna said he will be making changes in his routine as the police had told him that the shooting might just be the first salvo of a campaign against him.

“I cannot speculate as to the motive of whoever is behind this. I don’t think there is a business angle to this either, as we only just opened. In fact, we are on soft opening only,” Taberna said. The pastry and coffee shop was opened on Friday, Aug. 21.

“As for work, many people find me funny, and many others don’t like me. But I don’t think they [those who don’t like him] will resort to this,” said Taberna, who cohosts the “Dos Por Dos” morning rush-hour show, hosts the “Punto Por Punto” segment of the “Umaga Kay Ganda” early morning magazine show and cohosts the documentary program, “Kalye: Mga Kwento ng Lansangan.”

In 2010, an improvised explosive device was set off at the garage of Taberna’s neighbor. According to Taberna, police told him that his house might have been the real target. The attacker may have mistaken the neighbor’s house for his because it had the same description as Taberna’s house, police said.