Hundreds of thousands of members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo gathered Sunday at the church’s Ciudad de Victoria in to celebrate the INC’s 101st anniversary and to show their support for Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo.
INC-owned Ciudad de Victoria tourism zone in Bulacan, where members of the church
flocked Sunday to celebrate the INC’s 101st founding anniversary. DANNY PATA
The celebration became a show of support for Manalo, with church members pledging loyalty to the INC and professing their unity behind his leadership.
The members of the two-million-member INC trooped to the 140-hectare tourism zone along the North Luzon Tollway owned by the church to show they support for Manalo and his leaders, who are being accused by a group of expelled ministers of various anomalies.
Traffic was heavy along the highway leading up the Ciudad de Victoria, which was built on former farmland between the towns of Bocaue and Sta. Maria and which is also the site of the 55,000-seat Philippine Arena.
Meanwhile, House independent bloc leader and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez congratulated the church on its founding anniversary today.
Romualdez
“I congratulate our brothers in Iglesia ni Cristo for having a solid religious foundation not only in the country, but all over the world. I wish them to gain more numerical strength and recognition,” he said.
He said INC has continued to implement various meaningful activities and programs on job creation, education, health concerns, social work and even environmental protection that even benefit non-members.
Romualdez also expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the INC for its humanitarian projects for the victims of super typhoon Yolanda that flattened Leyte and other provinces in Eastern Visayas.
Rep. Joselito Atienza of Buhay party-list and Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz of Abakada party-list also recognized the significant contributions of INC to the country’s economic growth.
“The Iglesia ni Cristo has gone a long way, from being a small group in the early 1900s and now a big church organization with membership all around the world,” Atienza said.
Vice President Jejomar Binay also greeted leaders and members of the church on their anniversary on Sunday, urging Manalo and other church leaders to stay strong in the midst of adversity.
