Eliseo Soriano vs. Felix Manalo: Who Abandoned Who?

Ang Dating Daan or The Old Path is an award-winning religious program hosted by the only sensible preacher of our time, Bro. Eliseo Soriano. It airs all over the Philippines and in different parts of the globe for almost three decades now through radio, television, internet and satellite broadcast. The Old Path preaches the Word of God steadfastly, casting down wrong teachings, erroneous doctrines and false accusations of ministers of different religions.

Bro. Eli leads The Old Path program and is always at the frontline. He does not hide like other preachers whose shadows cannot even be seen on television. Members of the Church of God International, the church Bro. Eli leads, are witnesses to his activities even when he is outside the Philippines. Biblically speaking, one of the qualities of a preacher who was given by God the duty to preach His words is COURAGE. He does not hide when it comes to fulfilling his duty of preaching the Word of God by any means possible, in all places reachable, just like what Bro. Eli is doing right now.

Unlike the leaders of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a Philippines-based religious sect founded by the late Felix Manalo, what they do is recruit excommunicates from MCGI and use them as puppets to speak against Bro. Eli and the congregation he leads. Some of these MCGI-excommunicates-turned-INC-puppets are Bernardo Santiago, an adulterer who took someone else’s wife and destroyed a family; Daniel “Puto” Veridiano, a rapist of 14 or more minors; and many others who have done abominable things in the Church of God, including Crispy Perez, Freeman Maynes, Nick Abadiano, Yvette Diolata and Lina Gonzalez.

The style of lying of these INC recruits lies on the same line, suggesting they were guided. In their program Ang Tamang Daan (The Right Path), a failed imitation of The Old Path program, the speakers hired by Manalo are blatant liars. After all, it is Manalo who teaches all speakers in their program what to speak. It is not surprising that they would speak terrible lies, because that is the spirit that reigns in their congregation. The head of the Iglesia ni Manalo attests to this. Let us hear what Eraño Manalo, executive minister of the church founded by his father, has to say regarding his workers and ministers.

TRANSCRIPT:

Eraño Manalo: Ngayon, kung ang isang manggagawa, mga kapatid, sinungaling, hindi pwedeng manindigan. Kung ang isang manggagawa kakampi sa katiwalian, hindi pwedeng manindigan. Kung ang isang manggagawa siya pang nagtuturo ng katiwalian, eh lalong masamang manggagawa ito. Wala nang sariling paninindigan ay siya pang kasangkapan ng diablo. Eh sino ho iyang ganyang manggagawa? Maraming manggagawa natin, halos lahat ganyan.

TRANSLATION:

Eraño Manalo: Now, brethren, if a worker is a liar, he cannot stand firm. If a worker is an ally of corruption, he cannot stand firm. If a worker himself teaches corruption, this worker is much more evil. Having no conviction, he is even an instrument of the devil. And who are these workers? Many of our workers, almost all, are like that.

That is the kind of workers and ministers Eraño Manalo has. Almost all of them are liars and cannot stand for the truth. That is why it is noticeable that the direction of thoughts of the speakers in their program is to speak various lies against Bro. Eli and the Church of God. They even said that Bro. Eli had abandoned the brethren in the Philippines. Such a blatant lie will only work against the blind. Members of the Church of God and followers of Bro. Eli’s program are not blind, however; they are not stupid. They are witnesses to Bro. Eli’s global evangelical pursuit through Bible expositions shown everyday in UNTV and in other channels.

Just because they don’t see Bro. Eli standing on stage in Ang Dating Daan Convention Center in Apalit, Pampanga every Saturday doesn’t mean that the preacher had abandoned the brethren in the Philippines.  This idea is just the imagination of the ministers of Manalo, which they feed their viewers in Ang Tamang Daan. If it isn’t cheap and stupid, how will anyone believe such fantasy when every week brethren and guests hear and see Bro. Eli Soriano and Bro. Daniel Razon preaching through live video streaming not only in the Philippines but all over the globe? These two preachers of God are partners in teaching the brethren during worship services, thanksgiving days and other activities, while delegating minor tasks to the ministers-in-charge so that they may attend to greater responsibilities like Bible expositions that cater to non-Filipinos in different countries.

Now, speaking of cowardice, there is a preacher, a leader, who in fear of the Japanese military relinquished his administrative duty and leadership and transferred it to someone else. It is written in their Pasugo, Iglesia ni Manalo’s official magazine, published on October 1965. On page 21, it says:

TRANSLATION:

“Beloved brethren:

“Presently, Brother Prudencio Vasquez is presiding over the Church. This is what the Japanese wants. Let us obey. Do not be anxious because they have the power in our country. My duty is given by God; the same is your faith. I remain in the Church and in what God gave me. This is also what I am asking of you that you should not forsake your faithful and wholehearted love of God, in Christ our Lord, in the Word of God written in the Bible, in the Iglesia ni Kristo in the Philippines and in the Pasugo of God in the Last Day. This short letter of mine should be clear to you and is sufficient to express that we have an understanding just like before.”

This circular was issued by Felix Manalo on June 29, 1942. He said that he was not shaken by the Japanese and that he remains in his duty. This coward, if he was not shaken, why would he transfer his administration to Prudencio Vasquez? He made it clear himself. “This is what the Japanese wants.” That is clear. That is not an accusation. Felix Manalo was the one who wrote that. That is a reality in the Iglesia ni Manalo which, ironically, they throw against Bro. Eli.

Imagine, abandoning your God-given duty in fear of whatsoever power or present danger? Such a coward is not a true preacher of God. Now they say it is Bro. Eli who abandoned the brethren in the Philippines. These liars, they are the ones actually doing what they accuse Bro. Eli of.