[EXCLUSIVE] With only a few exceptions, the personalities behind the US branches of the FYM foundation are basically the same: Glicerio Jr, Glicerio III, and Glicerio IV
Aries Rufo
Published 5:14 PM, July 31, 2015
Updated 5:51 PM, Aug 01, 2015
Rappler: MANILA, Philippines – Unlike the Catholic Church whose assets are administered by autonomous dioceses, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) appears to be monolithic, allowing a single person or group of persons to be entrenched in as many INC organizations, foundations or businesses as possible.
In the case of the INC, the footprints of the family of INC auditor and minister Glicerio Santos Jr, appear to be all over the local corporations and foundations of the sect.
In the Catholic Church, which is registered as a "corporation sole," the bishop is a mere temporary caretaker of assets, with the administration of temporal or ecclesiastical assets put under the name of the diocese. This ensures the efficient transfer and administration of Church assets whenever there is a change in leadership.
And because each archdiocese or diocese is autonomous, bishops are not supposed to meddle in the affairs of other dioceses, especially where financial matters are involved. Every diocese has a finance council that makes sure Church funds are being properly used. Despite the checks, the set-up is still imperfect and reports of misused funds still filter through.
Over at the INC where no similar mechanisms are in place, some disgruntled followers are up in arms over the control that one of their ministers, Glicerio Santos Jr, is exercising over church finances.
Santos has been accused of driving a wedge between INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo and his family. Eduardo Manalo’s mother Cristina or "Tenny" and brother Angel appeared on a YouTube video saying their lives were in danger. After they were expelled from the Iglesia, Angel later appealed to his elder brother to talk to them, to no avail.
Clout
Santos’ growing clout and control over the INC’s finances may be one of the reasons why he’s been tagged as the number 2 man in the INC.
His involvement goes beyond the Iglesia's local foundations and corporations, as he also holds executive positions in the different Felix Y Manalo foundations (FYM) scattered in the United States. He is also behind FYM-New Zealand and FYM-Canada.
Here’s what we found from mining corporate documents of the different FYM foundations in the US.
FLORIDA | HAWAII |
Glicerio Santos Jr, president/chairman
Glicerio Santos IV, director
Dorothy Kristine Orosa, vice chairman/vice president
Restituto Lazaro, director/secretary
Manuel Andaya, director | Glicerio Santos Jr, president/director
Dorothy Kristine Orosa, vice president
Restituto Lazaro, secretary
Manuel Andaya, director |
IOWA | MASSACHUSETTS |
Glicerio Santos Jr, president/director
Restituto Lazaro, secretary | Glicerio Santos Jr, president/director
Dorothy Kristine Orosa, vice president
Manuel Andaya, director |
NEVADA | WASHINGTON |
Glicerio Santos Jr, president/director
Manuel Andaya, director
Restituto Lazaro, secretary
Dorothy Kristine Orosa, director
Manuel Santos, treasurer | Glicerio Santos Jr, president
Glicerio Santos IV, director
Manuel Andaya, director
Restituto Lazaro, secretary
Dorothy Kristine Orosa, vice-president |
(Note: The orange dots refer to the states listed in the table above, while the yellow dots refer to states that do not identify FYM foundation officers. The Secretary of State websites of California, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina disclose online that a FYM Foundation branch exists in their state, but do not indicate who the officers are.)
Among countries outside the US with an FYM Foundation branch, at least New Zealand and Canada disclosed online who their directors are.
With only a few exceptions, the personalities behind the FYM US branches are basically the same. Just like in the Philippine INC entities, the Santoses – Glicerio Jr, Glicerio III, and Glicerio IV – are also in most of the foreign-based foundations. One significant name found in the foreign-based Iglesia foundations is Dorothy Kristine Manalo Orosa, a lawyer and the eldest daughter of Eduardo Manalo.
Joy Yuson, a former coordinator of the INC media arm, accused the elder Santos of withdrawing funds from various bank accounts and channeling these to the foundations they control.
In a video posted on the Facebook account of user Sher Lock, Isaias Samson Jr, the former editor-in-chief of INC's official publication Pasugo, insisted that Santos was involved in corrupt practices in the church, and that INC spokeperson Edwil Zabala, general evangelist Bienvenido Santiago, and other ministers knew about it.