Built to Break: The History of MCGI Cares from Suhay Roots to Structural Overreach
- Rosa Rosal
- May 13
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 5
The Members Church of God International (MCGI), best known for its flagship broadcast Ang Dating Daan and by its latest rebrand MCGI Cares, presents itself today as a global religious force. But behind the spectacle of 24/7 programming, international missions, and charity events lies a fragile and often overlooked past. One rooted in a century-long cycle of doctrinal breakaways, internal contradiction, and structural failure. To understand the current instability of MCGI is to trace its spiritual ancestry to a group now largely forgotten--Iglesia ng Dios Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan or Suhay.
The history of Suhay, MCGI and MCGI Cares is a history of self-decline
Suhay itself was a schism, having broken away from the early Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) in the 1920s. In 1922, Teofilo Ora and Nicolas Perez registered a sect called Iglesia Verdadera de Cristo, later renamed Iglesia ng Dios kay Kristo Hesus. In 1931, Perez founded his own group and formalized the name Iglesia ng Dios kay Cristo Jesus Haligi at Suhay ng Katotohanan. It was a sect born not out of theological revelation, but internal rivalry.
By 1934, the parents of Eliseo Soriano were baptized under Perez’s group. Two years later, the name was officially registered. The church imposed strict regulations: members were barred from marrying or wearing jewelry. In 1954, doctrinal tensions peaked when Perez allegedly claimed to be the “Tree of Life,” not Christ — triggering yet another schism. By 1973, Perez's remaining followers shifted from Unitarianism to a Binitarian view of Christ’s divinity.
Perez died in 1975. On July 11 that year, Levita Gugulan was appointed Presiding Minister — a move later accepted by Soriano himself, who signed his agreement on August 12. But within months, fractures emerged. On January 1, 1976, Soriano was elected to the board. By February 21, he and several others were expelled from the church.
In 1977, Soriano registered Iglesia ng Dios Kay Kristo Hesus Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan. However, this led to a series of doctrinal and legal issues. That same year, the group split between Soriano and Felomino Hizon. By 1979, even Soriano's ally, Salvador Calma, acknowledged that suhay (support) and saligan (foundation) were not synonymous, undermining the theological basis for the newly formed name.
On April 20, 1980, Soriano registered a new entity: Mga Kaanib sa Iglesia ng Dios Kay Kristo Hesus Haligi at Saligan ng Katotohanan sa Bansang Pilipinas, Inc. But this, too, failed to escape the legal consequences of his earlier naming conflicts. In 1988, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled against him in Case No. 1774, ordering another name change. Soriano tried again in 1993, registering Bayan ng Katotohanan, Inc. — only to face a fresh SEC case in 1994 (Case No. 94-4704), filed by Gugulan's successor, Maximino Nieto.
On November 20, 1995, the SEC once again ruled against Soriano. By 1997, the Court of Appeals reaffirmed the decision. In 2001, the Philippine Supreme Court upheld all prior rulings, leaving Soriano no legal claim to the name. From 2001 to 2004, he operated under the placeholder Iglesia ni YHWH at ni YHWSA HMSYH, Inc. — a name rendered nearly unpronounceable for broadcast purposes. Finally, on January 13, 2004, the group settled on the now-official name: Members Church of God International.
But legal battles weren’t the only transformation. In the 1980s, Soriano launched Ang Dating Daan on DWWA 1206 kHz radio, and later moving to TV in 1983 via IBC-13. The show became popular, known for its open-forum Q&A sessions, and eventually transferred to various networks, including RJTV 29, PTV-4, and later UNTV.
By the 1990s, Soriano expanded his reach with Bible Expositions, often held off-camera as public forums, allowing attendees to ask questions directly. The first was held in Roosevelt, Manila, and eventually broadcast across provinces.
As the organization grew, so did its need for manpower. In 1997, Soriano appointed Daniel Razon as "supporting Overall Servant," formalizing a top-down administrative structure. They organized regional officers known as Katulong ng Pangangasiwa and Aliping Pampook, creating layers of oversight. In 1999, the church began streaming Ang Dating Daan online. By 2002, a live-streamed Bible Exposition was held in Singapore.
On October 7, 2004, MCGI launched The Old Path, an English-language version of their program, beaming into the U.S. and Canada via Globecast satellite. But their global ambitions weren’t just about reach, they were about survival. In 2005, Soriano fled the country amid legal troubles, including multiple criminal complaints. The leadership spun his flight as “God’s will,” a mission to spread the gospel abroad.
With Kuya Daniel Razon left in charge locally, the church continued expanding internationally, particularly in Latin America. In 2006, a live Bible Exposition was held in Los Angeles. In 2008, locales were established in Papua New Guinea and Ghana. In 2009, 263 were baptized in Latin America, a statistic touted as proof of global relevance. But critics noted many conversions were shallow, supported by Filipino manpower rather than sustainable local communities.
Today, MCGI also known as MCGI Cares still touts growth but signs of strain are visible. The BH Partylist, backed by MCGI, saw a sharp drop in electoral performance in 2025. Soriano has since passed, and Razon, now the de facto leader, faces a weary base and an uncertain future. The worship services that once thrived is now repetitive. The church’s mass service model is built on expensive digital real estate but suffers from severely low-quality viewership and declining broadcast relevance, as seen in programs like Serbisyong Kapatiran and Kristiano Drama. Daniel Razon's MCGI has also faced a record-breaking mass exodus of Perez and Soriano-era old guards, decade-old members alongside a steady decline in baptisms.
Unlike Suhay, which faded with quiet obscurity, MCGI has grown too big to shrink quietly. Its financial model that is reliant on overleveraged debt, captive market economy, aggressive financial brinkmanship, and relentless expansion makes it vulnerable to collapse, not decline.
Related: MCGI Cares: A Religious Cartel?
This is the core contradiction. Suhay was modest and doctrinally rigid, but its scale allowed it to wither in peace. MCGI, on the other hand, built a structure that cannot pause without unraveling. The mansions, broadcast expenses, clerical corporatism, business ventures and phony charitable projects require constant fuel. Without Soriano’s presence and with Razon’s weak leadership, the machine now grinds against its own weight.
Deja Vu
The history of Perez’s Haligi’t Suhay, Soriano’s MCGI, and now Razon’s MCGI Cares is not a tale of spiritual evolution, but a recurring cycle of schism, overreach, and institutional decline. Each phase sought permanence, yet carried within it the seeds of its own undoing.
Suhay’s break from the Iglesia ni Cristo was framed as doctrinal purity, but it lacked the adaptability and leadership to survive beyond Perez. It didn’t lose a theological battle, it simply became irrelevant in a changing religious landscape.
Soriano’s MCGI was a reaction to Suhay's stagnation. It brought urgency, mass mobilization, global expansion and media dominance. But it was a one-man machine. Formidable yet unsustainable. Its structure was never designed to survive beyond Soriano.
Razon’s MCGI Cares signals a third phase defined not by vision or doctrine, but by bureaucratic maintenance. It is a branding pivot, not a renewal. A kind of managerial interregnum, where nothing truly new is created.
MCGI Cares is not a resolution to crisis, it is the crisis institutionalized. The group has outlived its founding logic but has not replaced it.
As we have emphasized in our research, this isn’t just history, it’s pattern. A sect is born from a schism. It grows under a charismatic leader. It overextends. And when that leader is gone, it implodes.
MCGI is not fading.
It is built to break.
