Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio. — PHILIPPINE STAR/EDD GUMBAN
MORE than a million members of the bloc-voting religious group Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) held a rally in the Philippine capital on Monday as lawmakers stepped up impeachment efforts against Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Ms. Duterte- Carpio, who was in Japan at the weekend, said the rally was a “powerful show of unity and faith.” “In the face of rising prices of commodities, poverty and other challenges, a peaceful and united Philippines will never be unbowed,” she said in a recorded speech in in Filipino.
The Manila Public Information Office estimated the crowd at 1.41 million as of 2 p.m. The INC members came from Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Mimaropa regions.
INC members held rallies at 13 sites across the country, including Iloilo City in central Philippines and the southern city of Davao, the stronghold of the Dutertes.
The Philippine National Police said overall, there were 1.8 million INC members who joined the rallies across the country as of Monday noon.
“The bulk of that, which is more or less 1.5 million to close to 1.6 million, is now at the Quirino Grandstand,” police spokesperson Jean S. Fajardo told a news briefing in Filipino.
The INC remains a minority church group in the predominantly Catholic nation, with 2.8 million members. There are more than 80 million members of the Catholic Church, which was active in two popular uprisings that led to the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos in February 1986 and former President Joseph E. Estrada in 2001.
Impeachment talks have gained ground at the House of Representatives after lawmakers’ probe of Ms. Duterte-arpio’s confidential funds at the Office of the Vice-President and the Department of Education, which she led for about two years under the Marcos government.
The presidential palace early on Monday asked agencies to respect the right of INC to protest, noting that “to peaceably assemble is a bedrock right guaranteed by our Constitution, cherished by our people and consistently upheld by this administration.”
“All government agencies are, therefore, ordered that this right to be exercised today by our Iglesia ni Cristo brethren should not be impaired,” Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin said in a statement.
“We view today’s assemblies as part of the national conversation we should be having as a people to bring clarity and consensus on issues that face us all and affect our future,” he added.
Malacañang earlier suspended government work and classes at all levels in Pasay and Manila for Jan. 13. The Senate and some local government units also suspended work.
Arjan P. Aguirre, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, said the rally was political and was “intended to send a message to the Marcos government” — “that it is a show in support of the embattled Duterte dynasty.”
“The Dutertes are very close to the INC,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
Ms. Duterte-arpio and her father, former president Rodrigo R. Duterte, separately visited Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo on October 1 and 10, 2024, respectively. Mr. Marcos, meanwhile, visited Mr. Manalo two days before the church leader’s 69th birthday on Oct. 31, 2024.
‘POLITICAL RESPONSE’The President has declared the founding anniversary of the INC on July 27, 2025, as a special nonworking day.
Politicians have been seeking the support of the INC due to its bloc-voting rule, which is a requirement for its members.
Senators Francis N. Tolentino and Ronald M. dela Rosa, who are both seeking another Senate term, attended the rally in Manila.
Ateneo Policy Center fellow Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco cited a rule in political science “that no government can withstand a challenge of 3.5% of its population. “That means a mass action will only be impactful if it is demonstrably massive, meaning its attendees come close to 3.5% of its population,” he said via Messenger chat.
“The mass demonstration must be that perceptibly big, otherwise it will not have the impact. So in our country’s case, a rally must palpably show that 4.2 million of us, or somewhere around that number, joined it.”
Mr. Aguirre said the rally was a delayed response to impeachment complaints filed against Ms. Duterte-Carpio since December.
“It is a political response — muscle flexing on the part of the Dutertes that the INC is with them. INC agreed to this because they are invested in Sara, hoping that their favored place and privileges would stay should she become the president in 2028,” he said.
“It’s a gamble that they are willing to take since they know that the Marcoses do not have a strong candidate in 2028,” he added.
Anthony Lawrence Borja, a political science professor from De La Salle University, said the INC rally “highlights the impact of religious organization and mobilization on the willingness of ordinary citizens to participate in politics outside elections.”
“It is a mark that a secular split between religion and politics along liberal lines remains a far-off reality for Filipino politics,” he said via Messenger chat.
“Shouldn’t we pray for justice and good governance by holding those who violate our laws accountable instead of tolerating corruption and plunder in the name of peace and unity?” Antonio P. Contreras, a political analyst from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, asked. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
