The IFI was founded as a “secular catholic church” by Fr. Gregorio Aglipay in 1902. It claims nationwide membership
of more than two million.
In a civil case filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 68 in Camiling, Tarlac, the Michael the Archangel Parish and a women’s rights group called Koncencia sought “mandamus with prayer for preliminary prohibitory injunction and preliminary mandatory injunction with damages” against the top Aglipayan church leaders.
“Mandamus is a command employed to compel the performance, when refused, of a ministerial duty,” the civil complaint explained.The defendants were named as Supreme Bishop Ephraim Fajutagana, Bishop Joselito Cruz “and all persons claiming rights under them.”
The complainants accused the top IFI leaders of violating their church’s 1977 Constitution and its Canons by imposing the remittance to the central church 60 percent of the gross income of their parish.
They also decried the “indefinite suspension” ordered by Fajutagana against Camiling parish treasurer Amelia Mendoza in May last year for alleged failure to remit 60 percent of her parish’s gross income for the first quarter of 2014. Mendoza had cited IFI guidelines declaring that parish pastoral councils are “the highest governing body on temporal matters at the parish level” and that the new remittance policy had yet to be ratified by a diocesan convention.
The complainants also questioned IFI’s new policy removing from parish councils the power to oversee finances and transferring this power to so-called Diocesan Management Teams (DMT).
In a protest rally against the new policies in May last year in Camiling, IFI parishioners locked up their cathedral and its gate with their priests and members of the DMT inside. The DMT members later sued them for grave threats and illegal detention.
In a forum held by Koncencia in Camiling, IFI Camiling Parish Council Vice Chairperson Angelina Juan said almost 100 percent of all IFI parishioners in her town were supportive of the move against their Supreme Bishop and other defendants in the civil case.
Koncencia also raised issues of alleged extravagance of the IFI priests who allegedly each receive a salary of P30,000 per month, 13th month pay, travelling and food allowances, beside numerous “incentive pays” and huge retirement pension plan.
