By Hugo Santos

 

The Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) is one of the major religious groups in the Philippines there is a huge following base in INC and activities organized by the INC are widely supported by followers. INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo proposed the National rally of peace as the country is divided in the two most influential families in the Philippine political spectrum. The rally is believed to promote peace in a divided Philippines with rising tensions between the supporters of the Marcos and Duterte camps. January rallies are often believed to make an impact on national issues as it is the beginning of the year similar to the January rallies in the past years vis-à-vis Brazil and the United States. INC is also the same religious group who endorsed the “Uniteam” political alliance between the Marcos-Duterte tandem back in 2022 as both chief executives ran for the presidency.

The Marcos Perspective:
The peace rally was a call for peace right after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (PBBM) opposed the impeachment complaint of the current Vice President Sara Duterte. While PBBM is known for his passive-aggressive stance on political situations, other branches of government from the senate to congress have done their investigations on the Vice President’s confidential funds that worsened the tensions between the Marcos dynasty and the Duterte dynasty in the past years. Allies of President Marcos within and outside the cabinet are doubling down on the Vice President as the 2025 mid-term elections draw near only a few months away through impeachment complaints. Each PBBM support group’s view on the Peace rally may vary however the current administration’s view is that the rally is just about peace and nothing to do with the alleged support of the Vice President.

The Duterte perspective:
On the Duterte side it is believed that the INC Peace rally is aimed at supporting the Vice President and the rest of the Dutertes including Former President Rodrigo Duterte (FPRRD) who also recently faced a probe on extra judicial killings and a warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Allies of the Duterte side from Senate to Congress showed their support for the peace rally as they believe it is supporting the current Vice President that had a series of political issues in the last quarter of 2024. The National Peace Rally is mostly benefiting the Duterte side in terms of support group as former cabinet members of the Duterte administration believed that this is a de facto rally of support for the Vice President who is facing multiple impeachment complaints. Vice President Duterte and former President PRRD thanked Mr. Manalo and the rest of the INC for organizing a peace rally in difficult times.

Expected outcomes of the National Peace Rally:
The Philippines has been in a gridlock in the past years as the country is divided with their political beliefs, the country doesn’t necessarily have proper political discourse when it comes to current issues as most cases are perceived on face value. The Philippines is considered a middle-income country where the middle class is considerably rising and some citizens don’t have time to see all angles of current affairs other than what is presented to them i.e., social media, most Filipino youths get their information from social media platforms which may be politically marginalized depending on their sources. Religious groups in the Philippines are very significant as Filipinos are known for being pious in their respective religion, this is why the National Peace Rally started the year to put the Filipino together as the country gets increasingly divided based on political beliefs. Most religious groups in the Philippines are politically non-partisan and INC is one of them. INC wants to advocate for a united Philippines and considering the huge devout population on the INC they believe that the rally was a moral decision for the country. The church is known for its bloc voting when they endorse candidates and it was the same endorsement that made the Marcos-Duterte administration possible in the 2022 Presidential Elections.

   

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