CEBU — The religious group involved in the viral marching video taken last Tuesday, in Barangay Tubod, Minglanilla apologized to authorities for the alarm it has caused.

Originally uploaded through the account of Abai Mon Montesclaros, many were questioning the foreign nationals dressed in black marching through a subdivision in the barangay.

Minglanilla Mayor Rajiv Enad said there were about 60 “young and able-bodied foreigners”.

“We asked the police to conduct a deeper investigation,” wrote Enad on this social media post.

In a press release issued by the Minglanilla Police last night on Friday, Police Maj. Mark Leanza said that they visited the area again and talked with the foreigners involved.

“Officers interviewed a group representative who provided details about the event with assistance from the Philippine Army Military Intelligence Battalion. It was confirmed that the assembly was religious in nature,” wrote Leanza. 

They were citizens of the USA, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom who are part of a religious group called “Abayonaym” or “Those in need of the Father”.

The group follows the Christian Old Testament and members call themselves Hebrews. 

The 1987 Constitution guarantees freedom of religion in the Philippines, where a majority identifies as Catholic.

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Their leader, Derick Curry II, explained that they were temporarily gathering at the mountain outside the subdivision due to renovations at their usual place of worship which is a hotel in Talisay City. 

Police have verified Curry's statement.

"Our men gather daily to sing and chant Bible verses. We are not a militia.  If you look closely, we are wearing sweatpants, shorts, jeans and one of us is carrying a drum and a tambourine. We are not in uniforms. Not one person is dressed the same way,” explained Curry. 

He added that they had to walk through the subdivision to get to the mountain for their activity. They walked in single file to minimize disturbance.

“It was not our intent to alarm or frighten the local residents. We sincerely apologize for any disturbance we may have caused,” added Curry.

He also shared that when they learned that people were frightened, they did not go up the mountain again.

They are also open to sit down with the local government unit to shed light on the incident.

Police Major Leanza said they will continue monitoring the area for any similar activities.