A desperate fight to save Philippine democracy

I AM not a member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), thus I have no clue what their real intentions are for the scheduled "peace rally" on Jan. 13, 2025. I also make no claims to speak for the organization on this or any matter. My views are that of someone from the outside looking in. Furthermore, it is my fervent prayer that this piece will not have any adverse effects on my treasured relationships with many longtime INC member friends.Earlier news reports claim that the rally is intended to express the religious organization's "support [for] President Bongbong Marcos' stance against the impeachment [of Vice President Sara Duterte] pushed by certain sectors, as there are many problems in our country that the government should prioritize."Let me try to unpack that statement.The INC is being very delicately diplomatic on the matter of the impeachment of Vice President Duterte. They said that the government has many other national problems it should prioritize over the impeachment being pushed.Impeachment is a key mechanism for check and balance of the highest officials of the government. As such, nothing can take precedence over a justifiable impeachment case. Thus, what the INC probably wants to say — but will not say — is that they view the articles of impeachment brought against the vice president as laughable, frivolous and ludicrous. As they cannot express their sentiments in those terms for diplomatic reasons, they judiciously packaged the brewing impeachment as something that is not a priority at this time.Nevertheless, if that was their intention, why did the INC go to the extent of staging a peace rally, expending their social (and political) capital? The INC essentially already made a statement, one that the government and politicians of all stripes, in the context of an upcoming midterm elections, cannot ignore given the religious group's tremendous influence over electoral contests in the country through their bloc-voting practices.The way I see it, the statement against the timeliness of the impeachment against Vice President Duterte is merely a springboard for a much larger and more important cause, necessitating a massive investment of the INC's social and political capital. But before I get into that, I want to venture into a discussion of the context for the INC's actions these past few decades.At more than 100 years old, the INC has already graduated into a position of stability and strength. The group's standing in society is secured. A commenter during our Facebook Live broadcast last Jan. 6, 2025 for the "Mondays with Tentay and Van" program with microblogger and former maritime journalist Maricar Serrano succinctly pointed out the INC's current status saying that if top corporations have their corporate social responsibility ethos, the religious group is essentially practicing its moral and spiritual responsibility to Filipino society.The INC is a Philippine-based religious group founded and organized by a Filipino. I am not sure exactly how many of the INC members are Filipinos living in the Philippines, but I would not be surprised if they constitute more than 90 percent of their entire membership.What this means is that the fate of the INC is largely tied to the hip with that of our country. Thus, the INC is inevitably drawn into the public affairs of the Philippines, particularly concerning the welfare of Filipinos, a large number of whom are their members.However, this does not mean that the INC is deeply involved in partisan politics in the country. They are important participants in national and local elections with their potent bloc voting, but the INC has never made the news for interfering in specific affairs of the State. Suffice it to say that the INC is merely interested in the welfare of the nation in general terms.The INC, in fact, zealously practices self-help as an institution and organization. They pool their communal resources and redistribute them to the members — and even the nonmembers, directly and indirectly — of their religious community through various activities, projects and endeavors. The INC has the New Era University for the education of its members and a smattering of nonmembers. They are engaged in mass media. They have a hospital. They have pioneered so many community-based and -oriented activities, projects and endeavors, many of which showed their mettle at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.The INC is run the way most states ought to be run.In short, the INC with its massive wealth, power and influence has very little incentive to whimsically and capriciously interfere in the affairs of the State. The INC leadership, in fact, is determined to use the religious organization's resources primarily as an outlet for its strong sense of moral and spiritual responsibility to Philippine society, as a kind of social investment to its religious, social and economic base.Thus, the upcoming Jan. 13, 2025 peace rally appears to be the INC's initiative to engage the broader Filipino nation and State in cementing our righteous sense of civic virtues and responsibility. It is the INC's way of contributing toward the zealous preservation of our national integrity and dignity, calling on all Filipinos to safeguard the sanctity of our hard-earned democratic freedoms. The INC refuses to stand by idly as rapacious partisan interests threaten to mutilate the lofty constitutional ideals of impeachment as a tool for accountability and justice at the highest echelons of government.As an adult, I had only previously participated in the rally during the historic Senate vote that put an end to the US-Philippine Military Bases Agreement in 1991 and in the EDSA 2 protests related to the impeachment of then-president Joseph Estrada in 2001. I intend to go to the Jan. 13, 2025 peace rally because I recognize its noble and lofty aspirations as a desperate clarion call for Filipino fellowship and rededication to our resolute democratic civic virtues against the insatiable gluttony of rabid partisan interests.For eternal love of country, I hope to see you there.