Iglesia Ni Cristo Tree Planting: An Unbelievable Waste of Taxpayer's Money

In August 2017 I wrote about Iglesia Ni Cristo's tree planting activity. I followed up on that six months and then a whole year later documenting that it turned out to be a complete failure with all the saplings dying. I thought those posts were the end of the matter. I was wrong. 

If you are unaware the INC regularly plants trees in their communities. They boast about it on their website.

https://iglesianicristo.net/our-programs/

Tree-planting activities and clean-up drives form part of the Church Of Christ’s ongoing program on environmental protection and preservation.

The intention is good but the follow up tends to be poor and in this case nonexistent. At six months the saplings were mostly dead though some were hanging on. A year later basically everything was dead. Now two years later the whole area is being dug up to house squatters.  It has become a reclamation area.

What these photos show is a backhoe carving out roads and men digging drainage ditches. This is the area where the INC planted their trees. While I was taking photos one man approached me and I asked him if he knew that the INC planted trees there three years ago. He said yes. I asked if he saved any of the trees. He pointed way into the distance to two trees and indicated that those were the last remaining trees.

I thought it was interesting that the person I talked with knew about the INC tree planting in 2017 because you can't tell saplings were ever planted in that areas just by looking. But he was very wrong about the trees. Those trees in the distance are not trees planted by INC. Their tree planting looked like this:

Seeing this new development I had to get a statement from the local INC. This is not an official statement but it is what I was told.

I was told the tree planting was ultimately a waste. I was told the Department of Agriculture donated  1,500 trees for the INC to plant at taxpayer expense! I was told that they had planted trees before in a area that is also now being ripped up for construction. I was told the Mayor was present at the tree planting in 2017.

I was also told it was the city which is in charge of the reclamation project. That means the Mayor either forgot about the trees or is willingly ripping up the work of the INC! Or maybe he knows the tree planting was a waste because nobody tended to the saplings.

It also means the Department of Agriculture wasted taxpayer's money by giving the INC free saplings which ultimately died due to their negligence. How many more free saplings has the DOA donated to the INC which have ended up dead? How much more taxpayer money is being wasted on the INC?

Iglesia Ni Cristo Tree Planting One Year Later

On year on from Iglesia Ni Cristo's local tree planting activity and it's a total failure. I already documented that fact six months ago but now for sure 100% it is indisputable that this activity is a total failure and even more than that the INC has been shown up by the squatters who have taken over the area. 

First of all it is imperative to know that this area, which even a year ago was sparsely inhabited, has seen a huge growth spurt.  Like mushrooms after a rain squatters are popping up everywhere. 

These people were not living there when Igelsia Ni Cristo came around last year and planted trees. They know nothing of this event experimentally and it seems no one has told them about it nor did they see INC members tending to the trees because right in the middle of the INC's baby forest they built a volleyball court!

Oh look they were considerate enough to leave this young sapling alone and let it grow in the shadow of the volleyball court where it will likely get destroyed in the middle of a game when somebody lunges for the ball and ends up trampling on this plant.

Above are two views of what should be an incipient forest but it looks like nothing because that is what it is. Just a bunch of weeds to the uninitiated. It is obvious the INC did not tend to these plants and this neglect is more striking when compared with the cornfield and flower garden planted by these squatters which are blooming quite nicely because they are tending to them.

Even more embarrassing for the INC is that other squatters have planted banana trees. 

Look at those banana trees. They are planted properly and are being tended to because the squatter who planted them is counting on those trees for their livelihood. raising these tress to full maturity will take lots of time and dedication. These trees are not just a photo-op like the INC's trees were. They actually have a purpose, a meaning. 

So what's the lesson here? Iglesia Ni Cristo spent hundreds and likely thousands of pesos on bringing people to the area and on cameras and media and on the trees themselves! What was the point since they let all these trees die? I don't know but I think this is the most opportune time to use a quote from Cicero which fits perfectly here.

 For the deed was done with the courage of men, but with the blind policy of a child.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/51403/51403-h/51403-h.htm 

I have called this tree planting activity a failure but since it was only a photo-op and they had no intention whatsoever of taking care of these tress maybe it was a success after all.

Guns N' Roses to Play Venue Owned By Iglesia Ni Cristo

This November Guns N' Roses, the apotheosis of 80's hard rock, will be playing Manila for the first time EVER! They will rock your socks off with all their hits. They wanna hear you scream!

The venue is the Philippine Arena which has hosted acts such as Katy Perry, Eat Bulaga, and various PFB games. But did you know...

THE PHILIPPINE ARENA IS OWNED BY THE IGLEISA NI CRISTO!!

Yes that means if you go see Guns N' Roses play their first ever Manila show you will be filling the coffers of this Bad Religion, the INC. What a conundrum for rock fans! But why is Guns N' Roses playing this venue? Why did Katy Perry play this venue? Why was Chris Brown slated to play this venue? (He subsequently cancelled and a brouhaha ensued.)

The stated purpose of this arena is to promote wholesome clean living.

http://sports.inquirer.net/13449/biggest-sports-dome-not-for-profit

“The Arena,” stressed my source, “is being built not to make a profit. In fact, it is not even commercialized nor aimed at making money.” 

On the contrary, the complex aims to establish itself as a wholesome gathering place for people and an entertainment venue for the whole family, serving as a venue for religious, cultural and sporting events. Besides, my source said, the Philippine Arena could help boost the country’s tourism industry.

Look at these ticket prices from Katy Perry's 2015 tour.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/371266/philippine-arena-open-for-use-by-non-iglesia-orgs-officials-say/story/

Ticket Prices:

VIP – P15,900

Patron – P13,500

Lower Box Premium – P10,500

Lower Box Regular – P8,900

Upper Box A Premium – P6,000

Upper Box A Regular – P4,000

Upper Box B Premium – P3,000

Upper Box B Regular – P900

Here are the ticket prices for Guns N' Roses:

http://www.philippineconcerts.com/foreign/guns-n-roses-live-in-manila-2018/

Ticket Prices:

P15,595 – Platinum

P13,390 – Lower Box A Premium

P10,080 – Lower Box A Regular

P7,875 – Lower Box B Premium

P5,670 – Lower Box B Regular

P2,365 – Upper Box A

P1,575 – Upper Box B Premium

P1,050 – Upper Box B Regular

P840 – Upper Box B Sides

These tickets are more expensive than Katy Perry's. Is this what they mean by "No profit"?

While waiting for the show itself, GNR fans can hang out at The Philippine Arena’s VIP Lounge and Entertainment Tent, which will have a food fair, bazaars, motoring and sports exhibits, and a grand fireworks display. 

Transportation to the venue will consist of Point-to-Point (P2P) shuttle buses. Bus schedules and pickup points will be posted at strategic locations. 

The venue likewise offes a staycation package, with more than 400 housing units available for overnight stay.  For reservations, log on to philippinearena.net, or visit Official Philippine Arena on Facebook, or contact 09163372756.

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/296817/preparations-guns-n-roses-philippine-arena-concert-underway/

Yeah right! 400 housing units for overnight stay is just to make costs. So is all the food and the shuttle buses. Guns N' Roses is playing a charity event.

What about the Philippine Arena being a venue for good old fashioned wholesome family entertainment?

The Iglesia Ni Cristo-owned Philippine Arena will be available for use by interested Filipino and international organizations provided their activities will be in accordance with the Bible’s teachings, church officials said Monday. 

“We reserve the right to determine what kinds of activities will be held here based on wholesome Christian principles and values that our church upholds,” Iglesia Ni Cristo evangelist Bro. Bienvenido Santiago Jr. said during the arena's inauguration.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/371266/philippine-arena-open-for-use-by-non-iglesia-orgs-officials-say/story/

Wow! I never knew Guns N' Roses was a band with "wholesome Christian principles and values" that the INC upholds.

They may not hold Christian values but it sure looks like Guns N' Roses is good wholesome family fun.

It's all Lies, Lies, Lies from the Iglesia Ni Cristo.  Which makes their arena the perfect venue for Guns N' Roses' first ever Manila concert.

Iglesia Ni Cristo Tree Planting Is A Total Failure

Six months ago I published an article about Iglesia Ni Cristo engaging in a tree planting activity in the area.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2017/08/iglesia-ni-cristo-plants-trees-and.html

They bussed in a few hundred people some from at least two hours away telling by the destinations written on the jeepneys in which they arrived. All morning they busily planted little saplings. 

This is the field in which they planted their grove. It's hard to tell but in the background are many, many more bamboo sticks protecting tiny saplings. They must have planted at least a hundred saplings in this field. By noon they were gone and apparently they never came back to tend to the trees because today, 31 January, 2018, this is what the field of trees looks like:

Where is the mini-forest? Where are the hundreds of saplings they planted?  Here is a close up.

These trees look like overgrown underbrush. Many of them are even choked and tangled by weeds. In fact all the trees are practically indistinguishable from weeds!

One or two of them look fairly robust and like they might make it but that is purely a chance occurrence and not because anyone has been tending to them.  

What a complete waste of time it was to bus out hundreds of people to plant trees when no one even bothered to follow up on them. There is an INC congregation in the squatters village where they planted these trees so there is no excuse that someone was not assigned to tend to these saplings. A few bamboo sticks were lying about broken but no sign of the saplings they were protecting.

What was the point of this activity? All around the world the INC goes out and plants trees. What for? Do they think they are noble environmental champions? How is bussing in people from two hours away to plant trees no one will care for a good thing for the environment? Bussing them in means more pollution in the air and more energy wasted. The saplings the INC killed through neglect could have flourished in someone else's hands and field. And let's not forget about the litter they left behind which was not an environmentally friendly thing to have done. There were more people than trees planted which means bussing in hundreds was completely unnecessary and only done for the photo-op. If the INC cares about the environment why not just have the local congregation plant and care for the saplings? Because pictures and video of hundreds of people congregating for a tree planting activity is good PR.

This neglected field of weedy trees is very much reflective of the soul of the Iglesia Ni Cristo which is a spiritually bankrupt organisation feeding its members only lies and heresies.

I cannot speak for their efforts elsewhere but this tree planting activity is a total failure. 

Iglesia Ni Cristo Buying Ghost Towns in the USA

The strangest item showed up in the news.

http://usa.inquirer.net/5885/look-iglesia-ni-cristos-newly-bought-ghost-town-new-england

On July 7, the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) announced it purchased in June the “once-thriving mill town known as Johnsonville Village” for $1.85 million. 

This is only the latest in a series of massive property acquisitions by the INC in the last several years. In 2011, the church registered by Brother Felix Manalo in Manila in 1914, acquired a so-called ghost town in Scenic, South Dakota for $800,000.

Why in the world would Iglesia Ni Cristo be buying ghost towns in the USA? Sounds creepy and downright suspicious. Intentional communities solely comprised of true believers is the hallmark of a cult. Think The Farm or Jonestown. 

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/34205/south-dakota-ghost-town-now-owned-by-iglesia-ni-cristo

The Iglesia ni Cristo church in the Philippines shelled out $700,000 to purchase an abandoned, tiny exclave in Scenic, South Dakota.  For what?  For possible expansion of its imposing edifices with trademark narrow-pointed spires which are landmarks in many towns and cities in the Philippines.  But INC hasn’t divulged its plans for the property according to its offices in Daly City, California.

So in 2012 they buy a town in South Dakota in the middle of nowhere and don't tell anyone why.  Fast forward to 2015.

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/church-begins-services-in-scenic/article_14a90d01-310d-5482-a788-d28ac10b81d1.html

Not much was known about Iglesia ni Cristo's plans for the small town of Scenic when the church purchased most of the land four years ago. 

But recently, a picture of the religious group that bought a South Dakota small town, and the group's plans for the future, have become a little clearer. A new pastor who arrived in South Dakota recently shared one openly stated goal: to build a house of worship and try to establish a strong regional membership. 

The Philippines-based church, the name of which translates from Tagalog to English as "Church of Christ," purchased 46 acres of land in Scenic in 2011, paying $700,000 for the properties. The land makes up nearly the entire town, including a gas station, store, museum and bar. Scenic is a small town about 45 miles southeast of Rapid City. 

Since then, Iglesia ni Cristo has not filed any building permits, nor has it stated plans for the land or filed for tax-exempt status. The church has, however, started administering services for its followers and others. 

"We have started services in the Scenic Community Hall on Thursdays and Sundays," said Jose Ventilacion, a minister in the church. "We thought it would be best to start by reaching out to people and build from there."

Three years and no construction or publicly stated plans for the land.  Now that is very odd indeed.  Why drop that much money on a town and then just let it sit for so long with no development? Could  it be because the town is literally in the middle of nowhere and 42 miles away from Rapid City?  

The minister at this branch of the INC in Scenic is Jose Ventilacion who happens to be one of the chief debaters of the INC.  Recently he debated James White regarding the Trinity.  One of the distinctive doctrines of the INC is their denial of the Trinity.  However his Facebook page tells us that he lives in California.  That must be one heck of a commute! 

Now back to 2017.  

Iglesia Ni Cristo buys another ghost town this time in Connecticut. Connecticut is home to many ghosts. You've heard of The Devil in Connecticut right? The Haunting in Connecticut? New England is filled with the ghosts of Puritans past. The INC cult will fit in just fine amongst the abandoned buildings and cold winters that bring thick snows which muffle sound and violent winds that chill the bone. 

On August 19, there will be a cleanup of Johnsonville by members of the INC belonging to the northeastern region, comprising Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. 

“It’s going to be whole day,” said a member. “It’s 62 acres…cannot finish in one day.”  

The cleanup is in preparation for the August 26 Neighborhood Appreciation Day where INC will open Johnsonville to the community. Local officials and community leaders are invited. For the first time after being closed for so many decades, Johnsonville will be unveiled to the public. 

“Restoration will be a priority,” said Crisostomo. Ultimately, the plan is to use the property for church activities and also open it to others. 

“While exact plans for development have not yet been finalized, the INC is hopeful neighbors will appreciate the breath of new life being brought into the town,” he said. “INC respects the rich history that the property will always carry.”

http://usa.inquirer.net/5885/look-iglesia-ni-cristos-newly-bought-ghost-town-new-england

The INC is going to bus in members from all over New England to clean up the town. Judging from the way they handled a tree planting activity here it is safe to say that too many people will show up and that participation will NOT be optional. 

A few observations. 

1. A foreign religious organisation is buying up land in the USA at dirt cheap prices for no specific stated purpose. On its face that is sketchy as all out. Why is this allowed? The USA does not need foreigners sweeping in and buying up land. In the Philippines it is illegal for foreigners to own property. But in the USA if you got the money then the sky's the limit.

2. Intentional communities usually end badly. Mind control, sexual abuse, and death. Jonestown would be the extreme example of this where everyone was ritually abused until they all drank the cyanide laced kool-aid in an act of mass suicide. Even the Manson Family holed up in a ghost town for a little while!

Now they don't always end up this way and the INC is no suicide cult but to retain cohesion and community they must be united in doctrine and purpose.  You can't have just anyone walking in the door. Or you can but then you have to make him stay.  Fulfil his needs and wash his brain. How do you think the INC has lasted for over a century now? My experience has been that Filipinos are ignorant when it comes to religion. They will believe anything you tell them as long as you put rice in their bowl. Try discussing Mormon doctrine, real Mormon doctrine like the manhood of God and not the missionary spiel, with a Filipino convert and you will get wide eyes and an empty I-don't-know-what-you-are-talking-about look. That's because they don't know what I'm talking about.

3. Speaking of Mormons, Felix Manalo, the founder of the INC, is basically the Filipino Joseph Smith.

The official doctrine of the Iglesia ni Cristo is that Felix Y. Manalo is the last messenger of God, sent to reestablish the first church founded by Jesus Christ, which the INC claims to have fallen into apostasy following the death of the Apostles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Manalo

Compare that with Joseph Smith:

Smith's teachings were rooted in dispensational restorationism. He taught that the Church of Christ restored through him was a latter-day restoration of the early Christian faith, which had been lost in the Great Apostasy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith

And what did the followers of Joseph Smith do?  They went West and founded Utah. And then they conquered the world. Along the way they branched off into various polygamous sects and even had their own violent militia known as the Danites. Today they are an overlooked but very influential group. Because many young Mormons do missionary work overseas and become familiar with a foreign language and culture they are ripe pickings for working within the state department. As a group Mormons are politically well connected and influential.

This is akin to the machinations of the INC both inside and outside the USA. In fact the INC has churches on six continents. They have seen considerable growth around the world just like the Mormons. Undoubtedly this is due to the OFW culture which has helped to spread the message of Felix Manalo. In the Philippines this group votes as a bloc and politicians cannot win without their support. How much longer until the INC has that kind of power in the USA?

But the question remains: Why buy these ghost towns?  

The Church Of Christ in North America is really growing fast, now having hundreds of locale congregations and many more will emerge in the future. There will be a time that there are districts established in all the 50 states of the USA. So, in the future, we will need a "place" where we can built if not a Main Office complex (like the Central Office complex in the Philippines), a large House of Worship or a multi-purpose building.KA EDUARDO V. MANALO, LIKE KA FELIX AND KA ERDY, IS INDEED A MAN OF VISION.

http://theiglesianicristo.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-truth-about-scenic-south-dakota.html

Planning for the future? Central operations in Nowhere, South Dakota or Connecticut? It is surprising that the message of Manalo has lasted so long.  It's even more surprising some of the lies men will believe. How easily men are fooled by what they think is the truth. Do they really believe the INC will see so much growth in the USA from non-Filipinos that they will need to establish an elaborate and expensive headquarters in the middle of nowhere? The Badlands of South Dakota are no place to establish a headquarters. There is literally nothing there but wasteland.  It's not called the Badlands for nothing.

But there are other possibilities. Perhaps they believe that with Felix Manalo being the last Prophet to the Church and with the phenomenal growth seen worldwide by the INC that the end is coming and they will need a place to go during the apocalypse just before the Second Coming? Or maybe they think these towns will be revived with the establishment of INC congregations and they shall attract believers from all over like  a city upon a hill? Incidentally the Puritans who founded Connecticut also thought they were building a community which was to be a city upon a hill.

Perhaps they will be building self-sustaining cities just like the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi did in Iowa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_Vedic_City,_Iowa

Or perhaps they will do like several Filipinos in my neighbourhood have done which is to start building and then give up all of a sudden and for no reason.

Whatever the INC plans to do with these ghost towns you can bet they won't be telling anyone.

Iglesia Ni Cristo Plants Trees and Leaves Garbage Behind

During an early morning run I came across the following sign:

Tree Planting Activity? Sounds interesting and just the kind of reason I bring my camera every time I leave the house. Tree planting is certainly a noble sort of thing to do. Ecologically friendly. We can always use more oxygen and the Philippines can certainly use more beautification efforts.

I came across a guy carrying a very large professional camera set-up and I knew this was the guy to ask where everything was happening.  He said everyone was meeting at the stadium.  So that's where I headed.  It's actually just a basketball court though.  He said he was from the mayor's office but I never did see the mayor.

Loud music is always the signal for Filipinos on where to gather and this morning was no exception.

This little place with coffee and music is next to the basketball court and when I asked where are the trees at, the guys pointed to a place far in the distance on top of a hill just outside the barangay.  I knew exactly how to get there and proceeded accordingly and slowly though all the mud. Rains had been heavy the previous night and since the road is not paved it turns to thick slushy mud whenever it rains.

This was it. This was where they were going to plant the trees. But where are the trees?

Those are the trees.  Little seedlings.  And there didn't seem to be too many of them. Nothing a few people couldn't handle in a couple of hours anyway. Maybe it's just me but shouldn't they have waited until these delicate seedling were a little bigger and sturdier before they go planting them? Seems like they would want to plant something more substantial than just seedlings.

Why are they planting trees at all? No one I asked seemed to know.  The area in which the seedings are being planted is large and open and unprotected.  It's also an area used for growing crops. Pretty odd choice to sow a forest.  Could it be for beautification?  But the area is far away from people outside of the barangay. And if it's beautification they are after why not pick up the trash scattered all over the place?

So much garbage that needs picking up

The hour was getting late and I did not want to stay much longer.  No reason to really. But then I looked back towards the barangay from where I had come and I noticed a lot of vehicles had arrived. People were starting to show up. With all the mud the traffic cops had to direct the people to a safer and dryer direction.

People were arriving in droves. It was like Woodstock. You could say by the time I got to the barangay they were half a million strong.

The only shovel I saw.  Also notice the little paper flags.

I came upon several of these children of God walking along the road and asked them why they were going to plant trees but none of them knew what to tell me.  For people going to plant trees some of them seemed too nicely dressed and it looked like only one of them brought a shovel.  I don't even recall seeing shovels in the area where they were going to be planting the trees. A few were also waving the INC flag which looks like the Italian flag.  But why?  Why did they bring little paper flags to a tree planting activity?

It was time for me to go home.  But they just kept coming.

And coming.

And coming!

Every member of the INC in the area must have showed up.  Seems pretty silly. Why would hundreds (thousands?) of people be needed to plant a few seedlings? Did I mention they only had two outhouses to accommodate all these people?

Notice how the waste goes out a pipe and into the field! What is the point even?

I decided to come back in the afternoon and view the results.

This is what one planted seedling looks like. Surrounded by bamboo slats and planted firmly in the earth. It looks as if they used the bamboo as a shovel since the disturbed area is not as big as one would expect from a shovel.  Here is what a a whole field looks like.

Will these defenceless tress make it? Will anyone be checking on these trees to monitor their growth? Reforestation is a science. Is Iglesia Ni Cristo up to the task? I am going to go out on a limb and say no.  I mean look at the garbage they left behind.

The mark of Iglesia Ni Cristo 

If the INC really cared about the environment and the tree planting was done out of environmental concerns then they would not have left their trash all over the place. If the tree planting was done for beautification they also would not have left their garbage behind. Pretty disgusting. But not as disgusting as the human waste left behind from the porta-toilets.

So much for the pointless tree planting activity which no one seemed to know why it was being done and for which several hundred unneeded people showed up and left their garbage behind.