Malacañang invokes ‘urgency’ of INC head’s appointment  

Malacañang has taken exceptions to insinuations that the appointment of Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo was done to return the favor given by the sect in support of President Duterte’s winning Palace bid.

Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. said at a briefing that Manalo’s appointment as special envoy of the President for Overseas Filipinos Concerns was made since there is an “urgency” to provide additional assistance to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“The appointment of Mr. Eduardo Manalo was done because of Mr. Manalo’s network, especially with Filipinos working in different countries. They have 6 million members in their congregation and they have long been working with groups of overseas Filipino workers,” Roque said.

He added the government wants to tap their established network and the projects and services they render as an organization benefiting OFWs around the world, adding that the President’s marching order to Manalo was to “intensify their services to OFWs.”

Manalo’s letter of appointment was released on Wednesday following the Philippines’s announcement of a total ban on new employment in Kuwait over reports of Filipino workers suffering abuse and exploitation. Manalo’s appointment began on January 30 and will expire on January 29, 2019.

However, Roque said, we have no budgetary allocation for special envoys and that they do not receive salaries. But he is yet to confirm if there is no really budget for travel expenses with regard to OFW concerns since this as a “special appointment for OFWs.”

The INC threw its support behind Duterte and former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for vice president in the 2016 elections. It was Manalo who called on the members of the sect to vote as one.

Today, the membership of INC comprises at least 110 nationalities. It maintains about 104 ecclesiastical districts in the Philippines and in 100 more countries and territories, according to its web site.

Roque also announced in the briefing that Foreign Secretary Alan Peter  S. Cayetano will be meeting with the Kuwaiti ambassador this afternoon to get commitment from Kuwait on protection of Filipinos in the Gulf State.

Kuwait’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah condemned on Wednesday Duterte’s order to repatriate OFWs, saying Duterte could damage the ties between Kuwait and the Philippines.