Covering the Iglesia Ni Cristo Controversy: Imbalanced and unfair reports leave audience still uninformed
A few days before its 101st founding anniversary, the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) was rocked by what is considered its biggest crisis. It involved apparent disunity in the INC and a power struggle driven by a feud within the Manalo family.
Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Manalo, the brother of current executive minister Eduardo Manalo, appeared in a July 22 YouTube video in which he appealed for help following alleged threats to his life and his mother’s. Angel’s mother, Cristina “Tenny” Manalo, whose voice was included in the video, echoed her son’s statement, and pleading for the release of ministers she said had been abducted.
Angel and Tenny Manalo were expelled from the INC on July 23 apparently because of the video. Angel’s brother and sister, Marco and Lolita Manalo, were also expelled. Some members of the INC went to the Manalo residence seeking clarification on the matter and expressing their support for the Manalo family.
The media, particularly broadcast, was quick to report on the events that ensued within the day, putting the crisis into the breaking news sections, and devoting a large chunk of airtime to the issue. ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol, for instance, allocated almost 24 minutes of its airtime to the INC controversy, comprising 36.74% of its total running time. TV5’s Aksyon and GMA 7’s 24 Oras, devoted 24.44% and 18.52% of their airtime to the INC controversy.
Despite the lengthy airtime given the issue, the reports failed to provide the  information that should have shed light on the real cause of the tension in the INC. The reports relied heavily on allegations and claims from the protagonists, ranging  from accounts of the alleged  threats to the expelled members of the Manalo family to the condition and identity of the INC members staying in the Manalo compound.
Reports on possible corruption and a power struggle within the church as the probable causes of the conflict only came later. However, the  sources used in most of these reports were merely identified as “insiders” who refused to be identified.
Angel Manalo himself did grant the media interviews a day after the controversy started. Presenting the other side of the story, the INC council and its spokesperson Edwil Zabala, denied allegations of corruption and  abductions, warning the faithful against believing those whom he said were dividing the church. But these “he-said, she-said” reports did not help the public understand what the conflict was really about.
Some INC ministers who had been expelled,  and a blog written by one Antonio Ebangelista exposing anomalies in the INC’s operations and regulations, surfaced in the following days. Minister Lowell Menorca II, who was allegedly abducted and detained, also faced the media to contradict his own brother’s statements. Given the charges of misconduct, human rights violations, and defiance of the law that were being thrown by the expelled INC members, the media did not ask for the supporting evidence and documents that would validate their statements if they exist.
The celebration of the founding anniversary of the INC held at the Philippine Arena in Ciudad de Victoria on July 26 was kept from media coverage by INC leaders. As a result, the media reports on that day focused instead on the resulting traffic congestion along the NLEX-Bocaue area where the ceremonies were held.
The media did their part in providing context through background information on the history and general makeup of the INC, but for the most part, the coverage was remiss in checking whether the allegations raised by disgruntled INC members were indeed sound. The apparent muckraking by both sides in their attempts to discredit each other made a peaceful resolution to the squabble problematic, but the reports on it fizzled out without any indication that anything had been resolved.
The media, by using limited and biased sources without analysis provided reports of doubtful accuracy, leaving the public as uninformed as it was before the controversy erupted. The INC is after all reputed to be a powerful institution that commands the loyalty of millions whose “command votes” are regarded by politicians as crucial to their campaign for public office, from the Presidency down to the the barangay level. Despite the controversy’s breaking out less than a year before the 2016 general elections, the fact that the media failed to look closely at the goings on in an organization that for nearly its entire 101 year history has played an important role in Philippine politics and governance was regrettable.
that’s not new…they are selling papers and the only way to sell it is to make a story more controversial…make believe and tell lies.
that’s not new…they are selling papers and the only way to sell it is to make a story more controversial…make believe and tell lies.
Ang lungkot naman dito! Walang “bashers”!!!
Ang lungkot naman dito! Walang “bashers”!!!
I love this Article po 🙂 Super AGREE 🙂
I love this Article po 🙂 Super AGREE 🙂
Bakit nagtatago pa rin sina mallorca, samson at bakit pinatay si puto?