The INC rally — a protest against the impeachment of VP Sara

On Dec. 4, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) announced it would hold rallies in 13 different sites, including at the Quirino Grandstand, on Jan. 13 in support of the opinion of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. regarding the impeachment efforts against Vice-President Sara Duterte.

Having learned that some members of the House of Representatives were planning to impeach VP Duterte, Mr. Marcos Jr. had said on Nov. 29: “What will happen if somebody files an impeachment? It will tie down the House, it will tie down the Senate. It will just take up all our time and for what? For nothing, for nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a storm in a teacup.”

For Mr. Marcos to say that filing an impeachment complaint will just take up all our time for nothing is like saying that Article XI of the Constitution is dysfunctional and therefore should not be invoked. It was arrogant and impertinent of him to trivialize a right bestowed by the Constitution on the members of the House of Representatives, a branch of government co-equal with the executive branch. The members of the House could have returned the offense by asking him if his 27 foreign trips, including two visits to Singapore to see the Grand Prix, has helped improve a single Filipino life. In contrast, they chose to be civil and deferential. I am mystified though why no constitutional lawyer has slammed him for those brazen remarks.

I tend to think Mr. Marcos made those contemptuous remarks to discourage Duterte loyalists in the House of Representatives who may be plotting to impeach him at some point during his incumbency. VP Duterte is accused of misusing confidential funds. Duterte loyalists in the House can easily turn the tables on the President by accusing him of misusing his own huge confidential funds.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona was charged with betrayal of public trust for failing to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth as required under the Constitution, and for blatantly disregarding the principle of separation of powers by issuing a status quo ante order against the House of Representatives. Mr. Marcos has yet to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth. He also blatantly disregarded the principle of separation of powers by dissuading congressmen from impeaching VP Duterte.

Anyway, on Dec. 2, 2024, an impeachment case against VP Duterte was filed with the Secretary General of the House of Representatives. She was accused of graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes. On Dec. 4, a second impeachment complaint against her was lodged, citing betrayal of public trust over the illegal use and mishandling of confidential funds. On Dec. 5, a third complaint of betrayal of public trust was filed. All these initiatives are in accordance with the law.

The Iglesia ni Cristo publicized rallies took place on Jan. 13, culminating at the Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park, Manila. The Philippine National Police estimated that 1.6 million people had gathered in front of the grandstand and in adjacent areas.

Rommel Topacio spoke first. He said, “There is a saying that ‘united we stand, divided we fall.’” That is why he called on government officials to not allow us to be divided. He asserted that this gathering of the INC was a concrete expression of support for the earlier statement of President Bongbong Marcos that he did not agree with the proposed impeachment of VP Duterte.

Next to speak was Edwil Zabala, spokesperson of INC. He expressed support for President Marcos’ opinion that impeachment proceedings against VP Duterte would just be a waste of time. He did emphasize that the true aim of the rally was for peace, and that peace can only be achieved if the law is respected and implemented.

If the rally was for peace, then it was a monumental waste of effort and time as there was no ongoing conflict. Any impeachment move against VP Duterte is in accordance with the basic law of the land — the Constitution. Article XI of the 1987 Constitution states that the president and vice-president, among other appointed officials, may be removed from their posts “on impeachment for, and conviction of the following”: culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery.

The INC’s National Rally for Peace was patently and unashamedly a show of force to intimidate those congressmen running for re-election on May 12, Election Day, with repudiation if they push for the impeachment of VP Duterte.

Rodante Marcoleta, a prominent INC faithful and Party-List representative, opened his speech with the statement that the INC agrees with Mr. Marcos’ opinion that impeachment proceedings are a waste of time. He then lambasted the QuadCom for “summoning” former president Rodrigo Duterte to shed more light on his “war on drugs” and for the inquisitorial manner in which the QuadCom members questioned Mr. Duterte. Mr. Marcoleta’s polemic was certainly discordant in a supposed rally for peace.

Rep. Marcoleta was not entirely honest. He said the QuadCom summoned Mr. Duterte. The truth is the QuadCom invited Mr. Duterte, who declined at first but accepted when invited again. Mr. Marcoleta also said that the Chief of the PNP was not summoned to explain what the “war on drugs” was. Again, the truth is that former PNP chief Ronald Bato dela Rosa was invited but he declined, invoking inter-parliamentary courtesy as he is a senator. Mr. Marcoleta lamented the QuadCom’s rule that Mr. Duterte’s lawyers could not speak. But during the hearing on the renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise in June 2020, he objected repeatedly and sternly whenever Gaby Lopez’ lawyer tried to speak.

Mr. Marcos’ legal adviser, Juan Ponce Enrile, a legal eagle and former Senate president and presiding justice in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, noted there would be “a very detrimental precedent if we follow the logic implicit in the INC rally” (and explicit in the statement of President Marcos) which is that impeachment is more a matter of political expediency than a constitutional mechanism to remove an erring official.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), based on the 2020 census, there are 2,806,524 Iglesia ni Cristo members. With the annual rate of increase of the population at 1.5%, the number of INC members by 2024 would have grown to 2,978,742. The PNP’s estimate of the people who joined the INC rally on Jan. 13 was 1.6 million. That means more than half of the total INC members showed up around the Quirino Grandstand that day.

The PSA says those 18 years old and older constitute 63% of the population. That means there are 1,876,607 INC members of voting age. In the 2022 general elections, 56 million Filipinos voted. Therefore, INC voters constitute only 3% of the voting population. If the INC’s National Rally for Peace was a show of force to intimidate congressmen pushing for the impeachment of VP Duterte, it was a flop.

Besides, the Iglesia ni Cristo’s influence on the voting population has been proven to be a myth. It does not announce who its anointed candidates are until a week before Election Day, when the rankings of the candidates in the polls shall have stabilized. It endorses candidates not on the basis of any moral or political standard but on who the public opinion polls show to be the most likely winners.

That has been shown to be true in past electoral exercises. In 2004, it delayed its endorsement of Gloria Arroyo until the week before Election Day when she emerged as being ahead of Fernando Poe, Jr., the rumored preference of the sect, in the polls. In 2010, it switched from Senator Manuel Villar to Senator Noynoy Aquino five days before Election Day, when Aquino had dislodged Villar as topnotcher in the polls.

In 2019, it announced close to Election Day which 12 senatorial candidates it was endorsing. All were among those who occupied the top 12 spots in the last survey conducted by Pulse Asia that year.

In 2022, JV Ejercito unwittingly revealed the practice of the INC with regard to its endorsement of candidates. In an episode of the TV talk show Headstart, Ejercito said he was not endorsed by the INC in 2019 because the last survey done before the INC announced who it was endorsing for the Senate that year did not show him to be among the probable winners. But the survey conducted after the INC had announced who it was endorsing showed him to be among the probable winners. But it was too late for the INC to change its lineup as Election Day was nearing. To make it up to him, the INC endorsed him in 2022.

Various civil society organizations like the Makati Business Club and the Catholic lay group Couples for Christ may soon announce who among the senatorial candidates they will endorse. Observe that the Iglesia ni Cristo will announce who they will endorse a week before Election Day when the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia shall have made their final lists of most probable winners among the senatorial candidates.

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. has been a keen observer of Philippine politics since the late 1950s.