Presiding Judge
Mario Telan of the municipal court in Baliuag, Bulacan held the four liable for
a criminal case of selling two lots worth Php 450,000. Jane Angeles, Santiago’s
wife, told authorities that those lots were sold without her agreement. She was
abroad when the transaction occurred, with Santiago falsifying her signature. This
case will be tried in court for conspiracy and falsification of public
documents.
What is this news
all about and why is it relevant? It’s just another case of dishonesty
committed by a hapless lot of greedy people, right? It is no way controversial
as the pork barrel scam or despicable as the massacre of 44 SAF members in
Maguindanao. However, truth is that great crimes begin from small misdeeds
of people who have purged themselves of a good and clear
conscience. They are those who have willingly given themselves to corruption
and vile ambition. This story is just that.
Who is this Willy
Santiago? Why is this article saying that he is a bad example? What significance will it do to anyone who reads and learns the
circumstances of this story?
 |
| Wilfredo Santiago, or Willy Santiago, seemed remorseless in this mugshot taken by police a few hours after his capture. Santiago now faces trial for fraud and conspiracy charges. |
To begin with, Willy
Santiago is an excommunicate from the Members Church of God International
(MCGI), widely known for its program Ang Dating Daan (The Old Path)
broadcast on TV, radio, and the Internet. Santiago was one of Bro. Eli
Soriano’s Bible readers before he was expelled towards the end of 2009.
Santiago was excommunicated because of his extreme ambition and exceeding
arrogance. Being a former Bible reader, he had a flair and skill for locating
verses with speed, thanks to those years of learning from Bro. Eli.
His association with the televangelist propelled his flight to the limelight, making
him a TV personality and an object of impersonation by a popular gag show
during the early 2000’s.
He enjoyed every moment of his newfound popularity. It’s not surprising if he felt confident and proud of himself. That went on for
a few more years, until the wind changed its course.
The popularity he
earned from TV viewers and from the MCGI congregation drove an air of sickness in
his mind, a sickness that is not easily remedied. Santiago gloated in his status. He had a creeping ambition
to seek a better position than to be a mere reader and follower. But like any
rebel who plots to overthrow a government, he knew he still does not have the
means to seize control.
He engaged in rumor
mongering. All the while that MCGI Vice Presiding Minister Bro. Daniel Razon was
providing him with a regular stipend so he would not have to work, Santiago had the nerve to accuse his spouse as a “Japayuki”, a coined
term which means a “lewd performer working in Japan.” It is true that Bro.
Daniel’s wife worked in Japan some few years ago, but as a member of a legitimate
and professional Philippine cultural dance company, not the vulgar performer that
Santiago had gossiped.
He was also heard
by some that if an election for a Vice Presiding Minister would be held at the
height of his popularity, he would gain the seat because
he prided in himself being a fast Bible reader. He had always thought of replacing Bro.
Daniel Razon, the very man who was supporting his bread.
Bolder ill
feelings grew from Santiago when his visa was not approved. This was when Bro.
Eli, along with some brethren, flew to the US to conduct Bible Expositions and to
personally see the condition of the congregation there. He was the only one in
the group whose visa was rejected. He then directed his resentment and
sour-graping towards Bro. Daniel this time, when he secretly accused him of
“pagpapa-pogi” before a few brethren. “Pagpapa-pogi” is a Filipino idiom
loosely translated as “making oneself look more handsome by advancing one’s
influence.”
When Bro. Eli was
lingering abroad, visiting locales and conducting Bible Expositions, Santiago
would flaunt his Bible reading agility before a few well-to-do audience,
silently exerting his influence and winning them over to his side.
His once sour
feelings turned bitter as he voiced out more unsympathetic words towards the
Church ministers and his leaders. It became more apparent that he was targeting the highest position in the Church, that of the Presiding Minister.
This was strengthened when some Church workers testified that Santiago spoke negatively
about Bro. Eli’s prolonged stay abroad and that he was willing to teach in his
place.
Santiago criticized
Bro. Eli for purported inconsistencies in teaching. He had a particular
distaste on the teaching about prayer, although this was not disclosed to the
MCGI congregation until his expulsion in 2009.
It also turned
out that the members whom Santiago had been influencing for some time possessed
the same thinking he had. These few already had growing doubts in their mind
which ballooned to greater suspicion because of Santiago.
Santiago
continued leeching and milking his leaders. Although news of his backbiting
reached Bro. Eli and Bro. Daniel from overseas, he was given a chance to mend
his ways.
Santiago wasted
the chance given to him. Instead of heeding to counsel, he continued in his schemes.
The person who witnessed his suspicious actions was Jane Angeles, his wife. An active
member of MCGI, Jane divulged how cunning Santiago is. She also told that while
she was pregnant with their youngest, Santiago would beat and mock her. Despite
the stipend given to him regularly, he refused Jane the budget for their
child’s milk and would only hand her a meager amount for food.
Still, Santiago
was given the chance to explain his side. But all efforts to communicate with
him were in vain. It was learned
that he had other plans in mind. More testimonies came from members who
finally got their courage to speak about his abusive and arrogant
behavior. Finally, the MCGI congregation came to a unanimous call, and that is
to excommunicate Santiago.
Shortly after his
expulsion, Santiago founded a religious organization which he registered in the
Philippine securities under the name Members Church of
God in Jesus Christ Worldwide. He also had registered it under a
Spanish title Miembros dela Iglesia de Dios en Jesu Cristo en
Todo El Mundo Inc. It is based in Malolos, Bulacan and to this date had not any
single member baptized from abroad, despite that Santiago bragged it to be a
global church.
It seemed that Santiago
was relieved to be expelled from MCGI as his dream to become a leader came
true. He had people believe and follow him. He was able to recruit expelled and
suspended members of MCGI, and some from other religions who thought that
Santiago’s was a charismatic Christian group. Later on, he used YouTube and
Facebook to recruit more members and to populate the Internet with his attacks against
Bro. Eli Soriano.
Santiago thought
that the Internet will help him smear Bro. Eli. He didn't realize that using the Web would only hasten his downfall. As quick as his
rise to the top, he was also struck down swiftly. Bro.
Eli answered all the accusations that Santiago had presented before the online
community. Sooner, his video postings became less and less. He fell silent at
the face of Bro. Eli’s counter-arguments.
Eventually, some
of Santiago’s members began to leave him when they realized that he was a fraud,
inconsistent, and delinquent especially on money matters. Among them was a man
named Caras who was also excommunicated from MCGI. The two were tight-knit as
Caras was Santiago’s financier, and Santiago was Caras’ teacher. Time came and
Caras left Santiago when the latter took another woman for a wife even though
his first marriage was not annulled. Moreover, they had many unpleasant
discourses about teachings. After their separation, Caras founded his church.
After losing his
financier, Santiago instituted tithing to his members in order to sustain
himself. Now that's irony! While he was still in MCGI, Santiago believed that
tithing is a thing of the past. Now, he’s reverting to a 2000-year old teaching
that is not anymore applicable in the modern Christian times. He’s doing it
for plain lustful gain, milking his members and leeching them in every way he could.
Santiago’s
capture reveals that when a person opens himself to lawlessness and power-lust,
and abandons righteousness for fleeting worldly pleasures, dreadful consequences
follow. A person who chooses to defy the truth will pay the price of rebellion. Santiago is only rightfully reaping what he had planted.
It is unfortunate
to fall into disobedience when it is a lot easier to be dutiful to virtue. Santiago’s
case is not grand and compelling as the stories of impiety told in epic
proportions, but his case is akin to the biblical narrative. Does Isaiah
chapter 14:12 ring a bell?
A conceited ambition
that corrupts the heart and soul will lead to eternal punishment. God
shall end the days of vain pride when He finally casts the ultimate verdict.
