200,000 say goodbye
to Ka Erdy Manalo
Arroyo leads gov’t
officials in burial rites
IGLESIA Ni Cristo Executive Minister Eraño “Ka Erdy” Manalo was laid to rest shortly past noon yesterday, a week after he died from cardiopulmonary arrest at the age of 84.
Some 200,000 INC members lined up along Commonwealth avenue in Quezon City and adjacent roads around the INC complex as VIPs led some 20,000 mourners inside the Central Temple during solemn funeral rites.
President Arroyo arrived at the Central Temple at around 10:20 a.m. and lingered for about 30 minutes. She was accompanied by sons Reps. Juan Miguel Arroyo of Pampanga and Diosdado Ignacio Jose Maria Arroyo of Camarines Sur and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.
Two projection screens were mounted along Commonwealth avenue for those who could not enter the INC complex. One screen was placed near the UP Techno Hub. Some members were seen crying while viewing the rites.
Manalo’s casket, covered with red-white-green INC flag, was brought to the Sanctuario, which is beneath the Temple, for final viewing by church members at around 8 a.m. Some three hours later, it was taken to the nearby Tabernacle.
People inside the Sanctuario began to cry as eight INC ministers wearing barong tagalog with white and black arm bands carried the casket to a black limousine for transport to the Tabernacle.
The casket was at the Tabernacle shortly before noon.
Only INC ministers and their families were allowed inside the Tabernacle which has a capacity of 6,000 people.
The INC flag draping the casket was folded and replaced briefly with the Philippine flag. The casket was then opened for final viewing of the family.
The Philippine flag was then folded and handed by Vice President Noli de Castro to Manalo’s family.
Outside the Central Temple, honor guards gave Manalo a 21-gun salute.
Ka Erdy was laid to rest in a big white tomb adorned with white roses at the center of the Tabernacle shortly past noon.
It will be his temporary burial site, while a mausoleum is being constructed beside the monument of Felix Manalo, his father and INC founder, also within the grounds of the INC Central Complex.
Among those who paid their last respects were former President Joseph Estrada, his wife former Sen. Luisa “Loi” Ejercito, and their son Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada; former First Lady Imelda Marcos and her son Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.; Senators Loren Legarda, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Manuel Roxas II, and Miguel Zubiri; and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap and Finance Secretary Margarito Teves.
Manalo took over the administration of the church in 1963 after his father’s death.
He was instrumental in expanding the acknowledged largest independent church in Asia by establishing congregations in other countries.
The INC’s first local congregation outside the Philippines was organized in Honolulu on July 27, 1968, the same day the INC celebrated its founding anniversary.
INC has over 5,400 local congregations in 90 countries and territories, with millions of members composed of 102 nationalities.
Manalo was born on Jan. 2, 1925 and was the fifth child of Felix and Honorata de Guzman.
He is survived by wife Cristina Villanueva and six children, including Eduardo, who is the current deputy executive minister of the INC.
Malacañang said Manalo was “a foresighted leader who established the present headquarters of his church and initiated its rapid expansion throughout the world.”
Arroyo declared yesterday a non-working holiday and a national day of prayer as a sign of respect for Manalo. Workers from the electronics and business process outsourcing industries were exempted from the holiday.
Flags were flown at half staff in all government offices, including Malacañang. – Gerard Naval, Angela Lopez de Leon and Regina Bengco
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