Quiet at stakeout in front of Manalo compound after family feud goes public

It seems like another busy morning along Tandang Sora Avenue in Quezon City, vehicles traversing both lanes as usual. 

 

Except that in front of 36 Tandang Sora, a big house with a beige and brown concrete fence, a crowd has gathered on standby, media and police officers awaiting. 

 

It is quiet from inside the compound, which is guarded by another fence—steel painted white. 

 

A slight fuss came from the media by 10 a.m., when a fastfood delivery guy arrived onboard a tricycle, with him boxes and some paper bags of the order made under “Ka Jem.” There was no receipt, he told reporters, and this has been paid for. 

 

It was his second delivery to the house that morning. 

 

A woman wearing a cap took the order through the smaller gate’s window, after a few minutes and repeated doorbell rings and knocks. 

Order was taken by a woman through the smaller gate’s window. Delivery guy says order made under “Ka Jem”. pic.twitter.com/b5vcBkprmr

— R-A. Dioquino (@AicaDioquino) July 24, 2015

 

This residence, part of the Iglesia ni Cristo compound, drew attention on Thursday after the apparently estranged relatives of the church’s Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo had claimed they were held against their will. 

 

Authorities, even Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, as well as members of the church, had gone here. 

 

Police, however, had said there was no abduction at the compound and everyone inside was safe. 

 

As of Friday morning, the supporters had gone home. 

 

It remains to be seen, however, how this family feud would evolve. 

 

‘Mahihirapan kayo diyan’
 

Before 11 a.m., an owner-type pick-up jeepney parked across the compound, bearing flags of the church at the back. 

 

The man driving it—while familiar to photographers because he has been driving around with the owner with other signages such as a cut-out of the late Fernando Poe Jr.—refused be identified, and only went by “Ka Roger.” He said it is frowned upon in their church to grant interviews.

 

Another thing that’s frowned upon? “‘Yung magdemandahan,” he said. “Kaya nagulat ako.”

 

While it hasn’t been announced that the executive minister’s estranged family will file charges, or vice versa, allegations of corruption have surfaced, allegedly causing the rift. 

 

Angel, together with their mother Tenny and two other siblings, as well as the former editor-in-chief of the Pasugo magazine Isaias Samson Jr., have been expelled from the church. 

 

Ka Roger said he supports Iglesia ni Cristo because it is the church he belongs to. He said he’s not taking sides, but is against those who steal.

 

And before he drove to Congress to continue his ride against corruption, he told this reporter, “Mahihirapan kayo diyan.” —KG, GMA News