IT would be a matter of religious faith, trust on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to influence Congress and political will on the part of lawmakers to remove Vice President Sara Duterte thru impeachment that would all be tested after the country’s largest indigenous religious group, the ‘Iglesia Ni Cristo’ (INC), holds its grand ‘Rally for Peace’ on January 13.
In a statement, the influential religious denomination said preparations are already underway for the gathering that is expected to draw in hundreds of thousands from its churches in Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog, Central Luzon, Bicol Region and as far as Isabela province and Palawan in Luzon.
Simultaneous rallies with the same message of support to the earlier call of President Marcos Jr. for Congress to stop efforts to impeach VP Duterte are also scheduled in INC churches in
Cebu, Iloilo and Bacolod (Negros Occidental) in the Visayas and Davao, Pagadian (Zamboanga del Sur), Butuan (Agusan del Norte) and Cagayan de Oro (Misamis Oriental) in Mindanao.
The announcement was made by the INC thru its own television network, NET25 thru the ‘Sa Ganang Mamamayan’ talk show last Monday, January 6.
In Manila, venue of the event was changed from the Quirino Grandstand, in anticipation of the thousands of the faithful expected to heed the INC’s call for peace and national unity, to the Liwasang Bonifacio.
This, after the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC), an agency under the Department of Tourism (DOT) which manages the grandstand, declined to issue a permit, claiming another “prior event” would be using the Quirino grandstand.
“We actually want to do the rally for peace in Quirino Grandstand to cause less disturbance and not cause heavy traffic,” said anchor Gen Subardiaga said. “Please do not get angry at us if the area [around Liwasang Bonifacio] becomes filled with people and vehicles, and cause heavy traffic.”
But in its news story, a check by the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), quoting the NPDC’s own social media account, bared there is no scheduled activity at the grandstand on that day but at the nearby Rizal Park, which is hundreds of meters away and separated by several major roads.
The government’s decision to limit the size of the attendees is apparent, as the Liwasang Bonifacio, named after Katipunan Supremo, Gat. Andres Bonifacio, can only accommodate some 20,000 people, compared to the more than 500,000 people if the Quirino Grandstand is to be used, the PDI story noted.
The INC added the rally is open to all, but warned those raising contrary calls are not welcome.
“People who will call for the resignation or impeachment of our officials will not be allowed. How will we achieve peace if we are not united and are sowing disagreement,” it added.
‘Defying the President’
It can be recalled that last November 25, 2024, amidst incessant rumors circulating that impeachment complaints are being readied against Duterte, President Marcos admitted sending “text messages” to lawmakers dissuading them from proceeding with impeachment (see also Pinoy Exposé, December 7, 2024).
Interviewed by the media, the President added the “door remains open” for his reconciliation with Duterte, whose decision to give way to him instead of pursuing her own presidential aspiration resulted to Marcos receiving the highest number of votes cast for a presidential candidate in a presidential contest in the country’s history boosted by the INC’s support to their ticket.
Despite the President’s call and that of the INC, however, three impeachment complaints have thus far been lodged against Duterte mainly by communist front organizations now “allied” with the House leadership and suspicious ‘civic organizations’ funded by foreigners and the remnants of the Liberal Party headed by former senator Leila de Lima. All the petitioners have an axe to grind against the Dutertes.
The INC, however, stressed the rally is not in favor of the Dutertes but a call for national unity and peace.
With 2.8 million members based on government census 5 years ago, the INC is the third-largest religious congregation in the country while Roman Catholics predominate with over 85 million members followed by the nearly 7 million Muslims.
But distinct from Catholicism and Islam, the INC is a homegrown, ‘non-trinatarian’ religious group founded by Executive Minister Felix Manalo 110 years ago, on July 27, 1914, whose ministry now covers other parts of the world as well.