NEWS ANCHOR-journalist Mariz Umali presents her first “I Witness” docu tomorrow night on the rites and rituals of the members of a cult, Samahan ng mga Tunay na Anak ng Liwanag at Katotohan (STALK) in Indang, Cavite . This small community of 300 members live a life of religious observance. From morning till night, the members take turns in communal responsibilities like scheduled prayers and worship for personal intentions. They appeal for exclusion from calamities and world peace. The calmness of the mountain retreat is punctuated by songs of praise to the creator, whom members believe take possession of their leader in the embodiment of the Virgin Mother of Good Fortune. But the serenity of the community is sporadically broken by shrieks from a small hut when they have what they call healing rituals. Mariz discovers what members claim as routine healing sometimes end up as an exorcism rite similar to that of local shamans’. In one of her visits, Mariz happens upon an exorcism of five angry spirits from a patient using a live chicken, boiling oil, strips of paper, water and walis-tingting. Mariz encounters more mysteries in this group that claims to be the children of the light. See them in the enlightening “Mga Anak ng Liwanag,” tomorrow tonight after “Saksi” on GMA-7.
