The Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) is again flexing its muscle, this time lecturing government that the current “political turmoil” following the arrest of the unlamented ex-president Rodrigo Duterte is “linked” to the administration’s “failure” to address INC’s appeals for “national reconciliation” and “stable leadership” as if its Jan. 13, 2025 “peace rally” could prevent the impeachment trial of vice president Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio or end the attacks on the regime by the Duterte army of trolls and crones.
In his usual condescending mien, INC spokesperson Edwil Zabala roared: “Nang mag-rally, ang panawagan ay kapayapaan, pagkakaisa at unahin ang problema ng bansa. Hindi pinakinggan ng kinauukulan kaya nangyari ‘yung mga nangyayari ngayon (When the rally was held, the call was for peace, unity, and prioritizing the country’s problems. The authorities did not listen, which is why these things are happening now.)” Such blatant logical fallacy is consistent with the INC’s cardinal doctrine that outside of its camp, there is no salvation. Yet, there is no causation here. The investigation proceeded, the intrigue persisted and Duterte’s guns were never stilled. INC thinks that because the Filipino dismissed its “peace rally” as neither a rally nor an advocacy for peace, then the nation is now woefully divided.
From where does this pained Zabala theory come from? Yet, another cardinal doctrine that the INC preachers are that the entire congregation should vote as one on the basis of what the INC Sanggunian says. This is herd mentality and an imposition that should be dismissed as subversive of the democratic principle of “one man, one vote” and the cardinal maxim that the choice is for the voter to make, not for the Sanggunian, Edwil Zabala and Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo to impose. This feudal attitude lends itself to perpetuating the corruption that has shattered the electoral system, with sectarian interests pampering political dynasties, which in turn grant concessions and protect the business interests of the INC and the various corporations under its wing.
Zabala never understood the argument raised by Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile on Jan. 16, 2025, when he warned that INC’s warped logic (curiously, Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo studied philosophy under distinguished professors at the University of the Philippines in Diliman) and argument that the impeachment of Sara Duterte should be stopped was setting a “detrimental precedent” even if the INC already committed the same error in 2012, when it also mobilized its members and launched an “evangelical mission” at the Quirino Grandstand to simply show that Chief Justice Renato Corona should not be convicted. The INC plea fell on deaf ears as the Senate, under Enrile, convicted Corona by a vote of 20-3.
Enrile argued against the INC action, saying it runs afoul of due process, as the filing of the articles of impeachment against Sara Duterte was the result of prolonged investigation, the accumulation of uncontested testimony, the failure of Sara to defend herself against a “biased” Congress and her refusal to submit evidence to belie the allegations against her. The impeachment complaint, by Enrile’s reckoning, constituted an exercise of due process to exact accountability. It was not a case of the complainants filing a frivolous case since the basis for the complaint is the mountain of evidence, documentary and testimonial, that attests to the possible commission of crimes and the misuse or looting of public funds. In the case of Sara, she howled persecution and ran to the INC for support, snarling traffic in Quezon City, and showing to all and sundry that she was scared stiff after failing to bamboozle Congress.
The centenarian Enrile scored the INC for thinking that one rally could prevent the impeachment trial from rolling and argued that the INC cannot impose its wishes on a country governed by a Basic Law, or mangle its statutes to pander to the political interest of an elected official. INC has no right to pressure the government, Congress, the Senate and even the Supreme Court (SC) into papering over the sovereign right of the people to kick out officials through impeachment. Otherwise, this sectarian interest would be dictating on the state for the benefit of of Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio. The rule of law is sacrosanct and you cannot bend it to favor a person, a political dynasty or even a sectarian interest as the INC. “Can the INC, with all of its members, amend the 1987 Constitution or suspend any of its provisions? Are we prepared to discard or sacrifice the rule of law for a person or a group of persons?” Enrile asked.
“As a nation and a state, we will incur a very detrimental precedent if we follow the logic implicit in the INC rally that they mounted. Are we prepared and ready to face the consequences of that INC move?” Enrile continued as he argued that the administration must follow the law and let the impeachment process continue even if Marcos Jr. said in November 2024 that the impeachment should not be pursued, describing Sara Duterte as “unimportant,” a waste of time and a distraction that would not benefit a “single Filipino.” Of course, Marcos Jr. was wrong. The impeachment process continued and Sara Duterte found out she was losing her political brownie, if not her marbles. Similarly, the INC is grievously wrong. By appearing to be lecturing on the government that when it ignored INC’s plea for “unity” even without resolving outstanding issues like the impeachment, it proposes to have the moral authority and the political acuity to preach that “you didn’t follow us, so reap the whirlwind.” What whirlwind Zabala and his cohorts escape people who think logically.
“No one will place the truth in your mind; it is something you must discover for yourself,” Noam Chomsky counseled his readers. Yet, this counsel cannot possibly apply to the INC, which has maintained such a grip on its members that many of them follow the Sanggunian dicta and they will never be able to discover the truth for themselves. Do you think the INC believes in the separation of church and state? No dice. In exchange for their bloc voting, the INC wins concessions, like having the police chiefs of Quezon City to always be INC members. They also figure in government contracts, from car license plates to government ID cards, supply of armored personnel carriers (not a sacred line of business), property development (in which some companies linked to the sect reclaim creeks), the transport business, and others. All because they exercise power through bloc voting, with about 70% of their voters obeying the Sanggunian’s mind. (DIEGO MORRA)
