The Iglesia ni Cristo Templo Central in Quezon Metropolis —Inquirer picture
MANILA, Philippines — It seems the rally for peace organized by Christian sect Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) on Jan. 13 will likely be carried out on the extra spacious Quirino Grandstand, somewhat than at Liwasang Bonifacio, stopping a chaotic Monday subsequent week within the coronary heart of Manila.
In a message to the Inquirer, Nationwide Parks Improvement Committee (NPDC) government director Cecille Lorenzana-Romero stated the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ, which had prior reserved the Quirino Grandstand for his or her occasion, agreed on Tuesday to “modify their scheduled ingress on Jan. 14 to accommodate the request of INC.”
The NPDC, together with the town authorities of Manila and different authorities, can have “coordination conferences” with the organizers throughout the week to iron out the logistical particulars of INC’s occasion, Romero added.
READ: INC rallies in assist of Marcos stand in opposition to VP Duterte impeach strikes
The NPDC is an connected company of the Division of Tourism mandated to develop, protect and handle Rizal Park and different nationwide parks. The Quirino Grandstand and the adjoining Burnham Inexperienced are situated on the southwestern part of the 58-hectare Rizal Park.
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The INC earlier introduced it should proceed with its “Nationwide Rally for Peace” on Jan. 13, anticipating to attract in a whole lot hundreds of its members and different spiritual teams who share the trigger in several components of the nation.
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Members coming from from the Nationwide Capital Area, Calabarzon and Central Luzon are speculated to converge in Liwasang Bonifacio, based mostly on the “tagubilin” (advisory) issued by the INC leaders.
INC-led rallies of the identical trigger will even be carried out concurrently in several cities throughout the nation, resembling in Legazpi (Albay), Ilagan (Isabela) and Puerto Princesa (Palawan) in Luzon; Cebu, Iloilo and Bacolod (Negros Occidental) within the Visayas; and Davao, Pagadian (Zamboanga del Sur), Butuan (Agusan del Norte) and Cagayan de Oro (Misamis Oriental) in Mindanao.
The occasion was organized by the INC purportedly to precise their assist of the stance of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. opposing the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Count on site visitors jams
Of their “Sa Ganang Mamamayang” program aired on NET25, INC’s broadcast community, on Monday, co-hosts Gen Subardiaga and Nelson Lubao disclosed that the occasion was speculated to be executed on the a lot greater Quirino Grandstand to accommodate the anticipated quantity of individuals.
The NPDC, nonetheless, denied the INC’s request.
The hosts apologized upfront for the inconvenience the INC-led rally will trigger to the general public, saying the occasion would undoubtedly end in heavy site visitors within the space.
Requested for clarification, Romero stated the INC inquired on Dec. 23 if the Quirino Grandstand could be out there on Jan. 13.
“We knowledgeable them that it was not out there [since] the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ can have their Campaign on [Jan. 19], however their ingress will start [on] Jan. 13,” she advised the Inquirer.
The INC then wrote a letter to Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna requesting to as an alternative maintain the peace rally at Liwasang Bonifacio — a freedom park the place gatherings, together with rallies and demonstrations could also be carried out with out the necessity of prior permission from authorities.
Change of venue
On Monday, the officers from Lacuna’s workplace met with representatives from the INC Central Workplace, with the town authorities suggesting that the venue be modified to Quirino Grandstand to accommodate the mammoth crowd anticipated to attend the peace rally.
“It’s a greater venue because it’s greater and simpler to handle and safe. We coordinated this with the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ and had a gathering with each church buildings this morning (Jan. 7),” Romero stated.
The assembly concluded with the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ shifting their arrival at Quirino Grandstand a day after their supposed schedule — from Jan. 13 to Jan. 14.
Estimates based mostly on Mapchecking, a web based crowd counting software, present that Liwasang Bonifacio, together with areas of the close by Manila Hidden Backyard which is maintained by the town authorities, can accommodate round 20,000 individuals. In the meantime, Quirino Grandstand, together with Burnham Inexperienced, can accommodate a packed crowd of 500,000.
Based on the INC, the Jan. 13 rally is an expression of assist for the President’s assertion in December shunning plans to question Duterte following her bitter breakup with the administration, and her surprising disclosure that she had organized the assassination of Mr. Marcos, the primary woman and Speaker Martin Romualdez ought to an alleged plot to kill her succeed.
The President referred to as on his supporters within the Congress to drop any plan to question Duterte as this is able to distract each the Home and the Senate from their extra pressing work.
4 impeachment complaints
Three impeachment complaints in opposition to Duterte have been filed by civil society members and endorsed by minority lawmakers within the Home of Representatives final month. A fourth impeachment, coming from the Home majority members, is about to be filed subsequent week.
INC is the third-largest spiritual group within the nation with 2.8 million members, in accordance with the federal government census in 2020. Roman Catholics predominate with over 85 million adopted by practically 7 million Muslims.
Identified for the “bloc voting” energy of its members, the INC overtly supported the “Uniteam” of Marcos and Duterte throughout the 2022 elections. The formidable tandem received by a landslide.
INC normally flexes its power in numbers by way of its nonpolitical occasions. In August final 12 months, it simply stuffed its 55,000-seater Philippine Area in Bulacan for its evangelical mission. In Might 2018, round 1..5 million INC members confirmed up at its “Worldwide Stroll to Battle Poverty.”
The final time INC members gathered for a political trigger was throughout their four-day rally in August 2015, in protest in opposition to the Division of Justice’s (DOJ) supposedly meddling within the spiritual group’s inner affairs, after then-Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered an investigation on the unlawful detention case filed by a dismissed church chief in opposition to his fellow leaders.
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The protests—which gathered greater than 15,000 at its peak—began on the DOJ in Manila and later moved to the intersection of Edsa and Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong, inflicting large site visitors jams amid the already busy payday weekend and sale by a close-by mall.