INC grand rally at Quirino Grandstand set on Feb. 28

MANILA, Philippines - The religious group Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) will hold a grand evangelical mission at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on Feb. 28 to urge President Aquino and his administration to respect the “rule of law.”

A source told The STAR in a phone interview yesterday that simultaneous rallies will also be held in several areas nationwide, including Cavite, Batangas, Tarlac, as well as in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Members of the religious group were informed of the gathering through text messages passed this week.

A pastoral letter was read on Thursday during “Pagsamba” (prayer sessions) in INC churches all over the country, urging members to invite friends and attend the two-day “Grand Evangelical mission and Bible exposition” at Luneta Park.

“We are expecting two to three million members to converge in Manila,” a source within INC told The STAR.

The event will be covered live and be seen by INC members all over the world through live streaming in the Internet.

There are about eight to nine million active members of the INC.

The source said the Feb. 28 “prayer rallies” are just the start and did not discount the possibility that it would lead to a series of prayer rallies nationwide.

Another source said the crowd is expected to spill over to Coastal Road, Del Pan Bridge and could even reach the doorstep of Malacañang.

He said this is the first time that the Church hierarchy has summoned all the faithful to converge in Manila to listen to the “Word of God.”

INC officials declined to confirm or deny the scheduled “religious activity” but a staff at the INC communication department told The STAR that an official statement will be issued anytime.

Sources said top government officials were also invited to sit with top INC leaders during the prayer rally.

He said they will also distribute written messages to those who want to support their cause for “justice.”

Show of force?

But there were also sources within the intelligence service who surmised that the grand rally could also be in relation to the ongoing impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“From what we have gathered, the INC leadership has already issued an order to each of their local churches in Metro Manila to assemble at least 100 of their followers for the planned grand prayer rally at Luneta,” one of the sources said.

The INC was dragged into the issue following alleged moves by the Palace for former SC justice Serafin Cuevas to withdraw as one of Corona’s defense counsels.

Cuevas is an active INC member and has been playing a key role in defending Corona, whom the Palace wants removed.

Another source said that the INC leadership was also slighted by the humiliation and subsequent removal from his post of one of their “brethren,” retired police general Magtanggol Gatdula as director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

“It is time that they stop persecuting my brethren,” the source said, quoting an influential member of the INC.

President Aquino sacked Gatdula after the Department of Justice (DOJ) panel of prosecutors recommended the filing of criminal charges against him for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of Japanese national Noriyo Ohara.

“It’s about time people would realize that we (the INC) are not pushovers,” he said, demanding that the President and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima apologize to the embattled former NBI chief. 

“If they all apologize to Gatdula somehow the tension will subside,” he said, adding that Gatdula’s constitutional rights have been violated.

Aside from INC, Malacañang is also on collision course with the Roman Catholic Church over issues surrounding the reproductive health bill.

Both the INC and the Roman Catholic Church openly supported the presidential bid of President Aquino in the May 2010 national elections. 

The source said that the rally participated in by 7,000 INC members at the Supreme Court last week was a trial balloon for bigger mass actions. – Reinir Padua, Perseus Echeminada, Evelyn Macairan, Jaime Laude