Eli Soriano - Misplaced Pages

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Eliseo "Eli" Soriano
File:Eli soriano philweb-nov-2005.jpgSoriano at the 8th Philippine web awards
Born	(1947-04-04) April 4, 1947 (age 77) Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Occupation(s)	Televangelist; Businessman; Politician
Parent	Triunfo Soriano Catalina Fernando
Website	http://www.elisoriano.com/

Eliseo Fernando Soriano (born April 4, 1947), a controversial Filipino evangelist, is presiding minister of the Philippines-based Members Church of God International. He is known as Bro. Eli in the Congregation he leads, and through his radio and television programs Ang Dating Daan (The Old Path), Ask Soriano, Bible Guide and Truth in Focus. Soriano is known for criticizing various other religious groups for doctrines and practices he considers to be against biblical truths. Soriano and his followers claim him to be the Pantas (Wise man) according to Daniel 12:9-10 who would understand the bible in the last days. This is exhibited in his program "Itanong mo kay Soriano (Ask Soriano)" where he claims to be able to answer all kinds of Bible questions similar to the self-styled "Bible Answer Man", Hank Hanegraff.

Biography

Soriano was born to Triunfo Soriano and Catalina Fernando in Pasay City and is the seventh of eight children. He grew up in Pampanga. He was shy as a child and started school at the age of eight.

Soriano then dropped out of high school three months before graduation to devote his life to study the bible. On April 7, 1964, three days after his 17th birthday, Eliseo was baptised in Seneguelasan, Bacoor, Cavite, and became an official member of the Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan (Church of God in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Support of the Truth in English) founded by Nicholas Perez where his parents are also members.

In 1969, Nicolas Perez, who was then the church’s presiding minister, bestowed upon Soriano the title minister making him the only minister in the Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan at that time. Rumor then was circulating that Soriano would become the successor of Perez. After the death of Nicholas Perez however in 1975, a woman by the name of Levita Gugulan was appointed as presiding minister of the group. Soriano initially accepted the appointment of Gugulan but subsequently denounced her leadership stating that women should not be leaders of the church according to the bible. Some reports claim that Soriano was excommunicated by the group of Gugulan on the ground of homosexuality, among others.

In 1977, Soriano registered a new group, called Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan(Church of God in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Ground of Truth in English), which was later changed to Mga Kaanib sa Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus, Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan sa Bansang Pilipinas, Inc. (Members Church of God in Christ Jesus, Pillar and Ground of Truth, Philippines, Inc. in English).

Because of the similarity between the name used by Gugulan’s group and Soriano's group, the former filed a suit, which was resolved by the Supreme Court of the Philippines in 2001 in favor of Gugulan's group and Soriano's group was ordered to change its church's name not similar to Gugulan's.Soriano changed his church name to Bayan ng Katotohanan (City of Truth Inc. in English) and later to Iglesia Ni YHWH at ni YHWSA HMSYH Inc.(Church of YHWH and YHWSA HMSYH Inc. in English). In 2004 Soriano registered and used the name Members Church of God International.

Soriano started his first radio broadcast in 1980 and TV program Ang Dating Daan in 1983.

Senate disqualification

Soriano was declared a nuisance candidate and disqualified by the En Banc Comelec (Commission On Elections) on January 17, 2004 when he stood for a position of senator. Soriano was running as an independent candidate.

Puto's Rape case

Puto’s rape claim was published by ABS-CBN Interactive for more than a year. The article was such that only the date was changing. Editors in Soriano’s group began to protest that article, question the leadership of this outfit, and the kind of training its people had. This was made through a news posted online and titled, “Is ABS-CBN Interactive a legitimate news outfit?”

This one-story online site went blank for a time. The rape story was not there anymore but only its masthead. It returned with a vengeance, however, with another name - ABS-CBN Online. As though with malice, the rape story was back and stayed while it lasted. Meanwhile, they twisted the name of the complainant they protected to Pedriano from Veridiano. This emboldened INC posters to keep repeating the rape story in many online sites and fighting for Daniel Veridiano, alias Puto.

The rape story was picked up by Misplaced Pages that placed it as an integral part of the biography of Eliseo Soriano. This led to some church editors tangling with the Misplaced Pages staff. When Moriori of Misplaced Pages was chided for making use of a discredited source like ABS-CBN Interactive, his reply was to this effect: “There are many others I can use. I still have other sources.” Moriori in the end used Manila Standard as source.

Many times over, the rape story was repeated by news outfits like Soriano was convicted already- an overkill that effectively bared their intentions but mostly what group they were linked to. The aspect of its being dismissed was never mentioned - nor was the intervention of the Secretary of Justice. Despite ABS-CBN's background of the case that it reported the first time, there was no mention that their new reporting concerned a dismissed but re-filed case.

Still the questions remain: Who changed the name of Daniel Veridiano to Daniel Pedriano? Was it Raul Gonzalez, the Secretary of Justice who was highly interested in the case and had it refiled although dismissed? Or was it the ABS-CBN to facilitate their year long reporting, protect somebody but continuously destroy Soriano? In the way they treated the material, was that news for the public or an advertisement paid against Soriano? Who is now considered the complainant of Soriano, a Veridiano or a Pedriano?

With the rate Soriano's enemies are going, one cannot miss a relationship with the phoned-in calls to radio programs. As Soriano is abroad serving his international congregation, one suddenly hears his name mentioned by out-of-topic callers, an obvious fisher for his location: “What do you think happened to that Soriano? Where do you think he went? He was charged of rape, you know.” The man on board was heard to shoot back, "Sorry, you are out of topic!"

While Soriano had to exile himself, Soriano's voice could still be heard on radio from his taped programs from 10 o'clock at night to 1 o'clock in the morning over at DZAS and DZRH in "Itanong mo kay Soriano, Biblia ang sasagot" (Ask Soriano, the Bible will answer). To some of the questions asked, he could not avoid telling the truth about the Iglesia ni Cristo. Soriano can also be heard expounding the bible in “ADD by Demand,” a program in TOP Channel of UNTV that recently inked partnerships to make telecasts available in America and Canada. Added to that is www.truthcaster.com and his blog in esoriano.wordpress.com. Soriano is being followed by millions because of his great understanding of the scriptures.

In the website of the US Embassy in Manila on International Religious Freedom Report, the Church of God International, more popularly known as Ang Dating Daan (The Old Path) is named as an offshoot of the Iglesia ni Cristo. It is not so and never was, and the embassy was informed in 2006 then again in 2007, but the information remained the same.

On religions matters, it is consistently claimed that "there is no change," implying that all is well with the country despite what the Iglesia ni Cristo, with the blessings of Office of the President, is doing. For example, The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) under the Office of the President and headed by Ma. Consoliza Laguardia had suspended the program of Ang Dating Daan (ADD or The Old Path) of Soriano many times and at one time on the charges that Soriano uttered "Iglesia ni Manalo" (Church of Manalo) which the complainants said hurts them. However, in Net25's Ang Tamang Daan (ATD), a counterfeit of Soriano’s ADD program, the INC ministers as co-anchors spend a lot of time tearing the minister apart as magnanakaw (robber), mangogotong (extortioner), mangagansto (plunderer), yet the MTRCB allows them to continue.

The ATD program was revealed by Romy Español, an INC minister who got affiliated with Soriano’s group, as a program that was really put up to destroy Soriano at all costs.

Criticism

In 2005, MTRCB banned Soriano's programs because of statements made by Soriano against the Iglesia ni Cristo, the Arroyo government, and the MTRCB. He was prohibited from uttering libellous and defamatory statements against INC. Soriano had used terms like iglesiang pumapatay ng kapwa tao (church who murders) and iglesia ni Manalo (church of Manalo) to malign the INC in his programs.

As a result of Soriano's frequent attacks on the Iglesia ni Cristo, INC launched a TV program, Ang Tamang Daan, to counter Soriano's criticism of INC's teachings and practices and to expose what they say are Soriano's false teachings and contradictions on the show. To insult and malign Soriano, The INC hosts would often refer to him as manloloko (deceiver), dayukdok (ravenous), mandarambong (plunderer), mangongotong (extortioner), manghohostage (hostage taker) and the like. This has sparked a feud between Soriano and the Iglesia ni Cristo.