Members of the influential sect Iglesia ni Cristo attending a rally to oppose calls to unseat Vice-President Sara Duterte in Manila on Jan 13, 2025. - AFP
MANILA: More than one million people joined a rally in the Philippine capital organised by a religious group opposing moves in Congress to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, in what is likely a show of force to stun her critics.
Iglesia ni Cristo members, wearing white shirts, held a "rally for peace” on Monday (Jan 13) amid a deepening feud between Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Some 1.5 million people have filled the historic Quirino Grandstand in Manila City and nearby streets as of noon time, according to the police, ahead of the 4pm programme.
The Iglesia promoted Monday’s demonstration that’s replicated in a handful of key provinces as a show of support for Marcos’ opposition to lawmakers’ moves to oust his deputy, even as ties between the country’s most popular political dynasties have collapsed.
The massive gathering in Manila shows how the Duterte family still holds political sway, although not as solid as when the patriarch Rodrigo Duterte was in power. A Pulse Asia survey late last year showed the vice president getting a 50% approval rating, with both her and Marcos suffering declines in popularity as their feud intensified.
"If the message is to set aside politics and support the president’s pronouncement to set aside the impeachment, I think many will think twice on the impeachment,” Senator Sherwin Gatchalian told local radio DWIZ.
Support from the Iglesia, known for voting as a bloc, is important during elections, the senator said. The Southeast Asian nation is set to hold midterm polls in May.
The Quirino grandstand where Iglesia members are gathered is where Pope Francis drew a crowd of six million to his mass in 2015.
The rally is an attempt to shield Duterte from accountability, lawmaker France Castro, who endorsed an impeachment petition against the vice-president, was quoted by the Inquirer as saying. While the mega church’s endorsement could boost a candidate’s chances, it’s not a sure way to victory. The Iglesia, in 2016 endorsed Marcos for the vice presidential race, which he lost.
Duterte is facing three impeachment complaints, all filed at the House of Representatives last month, centered on accusations that she misused public funds. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Marcos has distanced himself from moves to oust Duterte, calling his rift with the vice president a "storm in a teacup.” That’s after his deputy said in November that in the event that she’s killed, she had arranged for the killing of the president, his wife and his cousin, the House Speaker.
"The rally could be a reminder to the Marcos camp of what ‘People Power’ did, and can still do, to topple a dictatorship,” said Michael Henry Yusingco, a senior research fellow at Ateneo Policy Center.
Philippine mass uprisings have toppled governments in the past, ousting the late dictator Marcos in 1986 and impeached leader Joseph Estrada in 2001.
Public opinion is split on the impeachment complaints against Duterte, with 41% agreeing while 35% disagreeing in a commissioned Social Weather Stations survey last month. Nearly a fifth said they are still undecided about moves to impeach Duterte. - Bloomberg
