The Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) has occupied a portion of EDSA since Friday night, August 28, 2015, and it looks like there is no sign of their backing down, at least not until end of Sunday, August 30, when their rally permit expires. Their presence on EDSA had added to what was already an uncomfortable traffic problem. It was not only the start of a long weekend, it was a payday weekend, and now the INC had to come along and make things worse, so thought the commuting public stuck in traffic that night.
Grace Poe, Jejomar Binay, and Mar Roxas – the three names who are seen to be vying for president in next year’s elections, all made statements regarding the rally. While Poe and Binay essentially went the “they have a right to protest” route, Mar Roxas chose the “maximum tolerance” and “please do not inconvenience others” spiels.
That, of course, hasn’t worked out well until now, has it?
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The seemingly apparent reason that none of the three, most especially Roxas, as the “resigned” Department of Interior and Local Government secretary, has advocated dispersal of the crowd – violent if needed – is because they will not risk crossing the INC and losing the bloc voting strength that it is perceived to represent. It is no secret that the INC exerts a lot of political pull on the Philippine government, and that its members are deeply entrenched and involved at many levels. Prospective candidates all clamor and will gladly step on one another to gain the oh-so-coveted endorsement. Thus, the government can only stand back and be ineffectual and be reduced to sound bites about pleading for maximum tolerance and avoidance of inconveniencing the rest of the populace.
After seeing my timeline splattered with numerous updates all about the INC rally in EDSA, I couldn’t help but remember just how spectacularly previous protests against the government have failed. Million People March, or PDAF March, whatever they were called, anyone? They were seemingly one-off events; no one has managed to organize another protest despite the incessant in-your-face incompetence and ineffectiveness that the Aquino administration has been showing.
The INC walked up to EDSA, inconvenienced the rest of the riding public, and they didn’t give a damn about what everyone else thinks. The apparent reason they went there in the first place was they didn’t like what they thought was Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima’s giving undue attention to the cases involving certain ministers of the INC. Word has it that the flock was passed a message that “their religion was under attack by the government”. And how does a zealot react when you threaten that which is very dear to his/her way of life? Expect things to get violent.
Whether you agree or not with the reason the INC is protesting in the first place, and whether or not you agree with their methods, you’ve got to admit that they seem to be showing qualities that are needed for protest rallies to succeed.
Commitment, single-mindedness, and resolve – without these, any action “to make the people’s voices heard” will eventually fizzle out, if not quickly.
Protest rallies not only get attention, but work only if the threat of greater disorder is implied unless you listen to the protesters. Whether they were aware of it or not, the INC pushed a hot button that the public in general has had with the Philippine government – the traffic situation. Their presence on EDSA may have earned them the ire of quite a few of the non-INC populace, but they have come out making the government look more inutile than it already is. Plus, the administration, and other politicians in general, still perceive the INC to hold some sort of bloc voting strength that could very well determine who wins elections.
There is one word that describes what the INC has, which is actually also used in the context of business negotiations: leverage. The INC is holding the government and the public by the balls, and they will continue squeezing until they get what they want. It is up to the government whether they will do the right thing, or the popular thing; we all know which one they’re going to choose to do now, don’t we?
To balance things out, if there are things protesters could take from the INC, then there are also behaviors which they should not emulate. One example of which is the poor sod shown below:
Protip: always make sure that you know what the hell your group is protesting about in the first place.
The second behavior that people should not emulate is much harder for Filipinos, regardless of INC or non-INC. It’s sort of like asking them to stop breathing. One has only to look at the picture below to see what I mean:
Protip: always make sure to clean up after yourselves.
Final protip: Song and dance numbers have no place in a protest which is supposed to be serious.
The fact that one single religious organization can cause so much trouble, that Filipinos and their government are effectively paralyzed in dealing with it, should be enough to tell you just how seriously screwed up Filipino society is.
А вы, друзья, как ни садитесь, все в музыканты не годитесь. – But you, my friends, however you sit, not all as musicians fit.
This is a perfect example of how the people of the Philippines can turn the tide of a the democratic society…..if people of the Philippines are smart and care not only their self interest ,,,the people can organized and become a force to be afraid off…peaceful protest like in South Africa can turn the tide in the people’s favor in the Philippines…Let the government fear the people and not the people the government ..organized , team work ..,its time for the people to tell the government it has to change and start serving the interest of the people…..INC knows the power of team work and be one voice…I just don’t know of they can maintain their silence of their own corruption…the only way to control corruption is exposed it and let the people know who is playing you for fool…everybody has a secret they hide , but secret corruption must be exposed …no few individual should benefit for the sacrifice of the many , either it is religion or government or weathy individual or corporation.
Organized and use the people’s power filipinosssssss…
I agree with majority of your points except the garbage mess. Didn’t you see them clean up their own trash? Look at Padre Faura now and it now looks like what it was before even the group of INC members arrived.
Yes there were assigned cleaners. That was good. Di lang talaga maalis sa ilang Pilipino ang pagtatapon. May mga matatanda na guamgawa nito kaya may mga batang gumagaya. Pero yun nga, may naglinis naman. Buti naman.
Yes to the Bribing of Pork barrel scam, aka PDAF of MAD PNOY hacienda luisita self interest of a Pilipino whose unworthy cause is not worth Dying for Senatong Tanda and tongressman toofast to convict the INC Justice Corona for all Pilipinos, who was removed because of his wish to returned the kulangkulang99 lease of the agreement of mambo mambo Magsaysay to return it to the farmers. its a broaddaylight no shame yellow oligarchs corruption. and the Iglesia ni Christo are just Protesting and expose the Edsa1 revolution which was perpetrated by non other Cardinal kasalanan or shall we SIN, as what was revealed in the Controversial files of the illuminati..
Beware INC kung si Duterte ang magiging bagong pangulo sa ating bansa sa susunod na taon, umalis na kayo agad at pumunta na lang kayo sa isang bansa na pwede mag-rally kahit na walang permit at hindi na kailangan ng “rule of law”. Question, saan bansa kaya yon? Sa Mexico? Sa Brazil? Sa Greece? Hmmm… :\
Don’t you know mabilis pa sa alas kwatro ang pag approve ni Duterte ng Permit sa Iglesia ni Cristo to hold Rally in Davao City?! Abangan mo sa lunes 8/31/15! research research rin pag may time!
it’s a sarcastic joke. and compare Davao City where law is enforced unlike dito sa metro manila. INC in davao city knows the law and follows it.
O please, try to look the History of Davao when the Duterte’s clan fired all INC employed in Davao City Hall. In the end, he needs INC support. So goodluck!
whether you are catholic or INC or atheist if you are incompetent sa trabaho (corrupte) ma-fire ka talaga. kesehodang anong relihiyon ka pa pag hindi ka nag-trabaho ng tama at corrupt ka tanggalin ka talaga.
at bakit na-fired? did you investigate the reason behind it?
Because before Duterte’s clan are against INC but then he realized that INC members are dedicated and more honest in their works :)…in the end they live peacefully, no hassle and Duterte gave back their work and position.
un pla eh… kung d ka tinanong d mo ibibagay ang rest ag story mo…tsk33
Aquino has trouble with the ISIS/AL QUEDA/MILF in Mindanao. This INK problem is another religious/political problem, that is coming out. And, the Center of Conflict is at EDSA. How ironic…
Of course, Roxas, Binay, Grace Poe, etc…are all afraid of the Inglesia Ni Kristo. They are afraid to lose the Block Votes…
If Filipinos, could show this kind of Resolve, when, they do not like what their government is doing. Or, any “Pontio Pilato” public official, is doing. Then, we can improve things in our country…and make any public official behave and do their work…
‘Arrogant’, ‘self-important’, ‘insensitive’ and ‘selfish’ are words that best describe a band of people that would think nothing of badgering, annoying and distressing others who try to live their normal lives, as best they can, in an already stressful environment. This is what the ‘Iglesia Ni Cristo’ has done to the innocent and harried commuters along EDSA these last couple of days. If the exercise was to draw attention to their present plight, they succeeded..absolutely. If the goal was sympathy, or just empathy from the public, they probably failed miserably. They simply gained the ire and condemnation of those adversely affected, as well as of those who were just unaffected observers.
The reaction of the ‘pretenders’ to the Presidency was quite expected.. ‘wishy-washy’. Ms. Grace and Mr. Jejomar’s “..they have a right to protest..” was downright deferential and subservient, and Mr. Mar’s “..please do not inconvenience others..”, while appropriate, did not go far enough in addressing the problem; (with leaders like these, is it a wonder that the country is waist deep in raw sewage?).
The Controversial files of the illuminati in the Destruction of Marcos in the Philippines.
well hopefully Dan Brown could make another controversial novel about the dark side of the INC and what will be the title of his new novel?
MAD PNOY PDAF PORK BARREL SCAM OF Senatong Tanda and his napolist list bathub of money auditors with the cooperation of tongressman toofast to convict Justice Corona lagay to the bone, the number one reason of why in Asia that the Philippines is the number one Corrupt Country of the making of MAD PNOY third world status legacy for 32 years of Broaddaylight corruption.
Walang kawala sa pagiging Pinoy mga INC members. Bulag na pagsuporta sa kanilang pinuno (behavior no. 1 – sumusunod lang sa utos ng ministro) at walang disiplina (behavior no. 2 – tapon ng basura kahit saan).
E di wow! ikaw na may disiplina obvious kita naman sayo…bravo!
Sa kabutihang palad, kapatid, may disiplina talaga ako. Sinisigurado kong ang basura ko ay swak sa loob ng basurahan at hindi ako sunud-sunuran sa relihiyon. At sa reaksyon mo lumalabas na nagbubulag-bulagan ka na naman. Dahil ba kapareho mong Iglesia hindi mo na kokondenahin ang maling mga gawa?
Really? so ibig sabihin kung sumusunod kami bulag kami? nag-aral naman din kaming tulad mo..may mga attorney din naman kami, judges, newscaster, reporters, kahit sa beauty pageant international meron din naman nakilala na kinarangal niyo pa nga eh, ay oo nga pala baka fan ka ni KathNiel..INC din kasi si Kathryn Bernado…ay oo nga pala pati EJ Falcon..tingin mo ganoon kami kababaw or hindi kami nag-iisip….do your research okay!
@Chris, naaalala ko lang ‘yang Kathniel kapag may nagbanggit gaya mo.
“so ibig sabihin kung sumusunod kami bulag kami?”
Depende kung bakit kayo sumusunod. Ang basehan ko naman, kung mababasa mo sa una kong komento, “sumusunod lang sa utos ng ministro” kaya nasa Edsa at nakiki-rally. Kilala nga kayo sa bloc voting ‘di ba? Sige, pasinungalingan mo ‘yan. Okay lang na lumabas akong mali basta lalabas ang tama at katotohanan. At sinabi mo pang may mga propesyonal sa inyo, mga nakapag-aral pero bumoboto base sa inendorso sa simbahan? At ibig sabihin ‘yang mga nabanggit mo kasama din sila sa nagkalat sa kalsada, mga propesyonal, nag-aral at nag-iisip?
At sana next time sumagot ka ng walang plantsa sa ulo para hindi tayo nag-iiba ng plot at nagdadagdag ng iba pang cast.
Naknak kung pinagpuputok ng butsi mo eh block voting namin dahil ito ang sinabi namin, karapatan din naman namin sundin yon…right namin yon…..mahirap bang maintindihan yon? rights din namin sumunod. May pagkamakitid din kasi ang ulo mo, walang malinis na protesta kahit anong protesta talagang makalat, wag kang magtanga tangahan, kahit fun run nga nagkalat ang basura…kahit simpleng paghihintay mo nga sa airport ng flight mo nagkalat ang basura…kaya puede lawakan mo paningin mo masyado kang galit sa INC…para kang ADD galit na galit sa INC…
@Chris, man, ipinangangalandakan mong galit kami sa INC. Man, sa maling practice kami galit. Nakakaengganyo nga sanang sumama sa protesta n’yo kaso biglang pansariling interes lang pala iniisip n’yo. Dapat ba naming ikatuwa ang tatlong araw n’yong protesta na nagdulot ng kalbaryo sa maraming Filipino at ang kagustuhan ninyong ‘wag dinggin ng DOJ ang reklamo ng isang mamamayan ng bansa? At ang batayan mo ng makitid ang utak at nagtatanga-tangahan ay ang pagpuna sa pagkakalat ng Iglesia sa sarili nilang protesta dahil normal lang naman dapat ang magkalat dahil ginagawa rin ito ng ibang grupo? Okay lang mawalan ng disiplina dahil wala ring disiplina ang iba? At bakit bigla kang nanghahatak ng walang kontribusyon sa kalat n’yo? (To think na ang katangian ng Pinoy in general ang pinuna ko no’ng una pero dahil feeling mo patungkol lang iyon sa INC sige, indulge) At ano ‘yang sinasabi mong karapatan? Your INC’s bloc voting means all the church members vote for a particular candidate chosen by your church leaders. YOU SIMPLY FOLLOW THE LEADER. Kaya nga binoto n’yo si Erap at PNoy, di ba? Sa sarili mong opinyon karapat dapat ba talaga sila sa pagka-Pangulo? Oo naman, di ba? ‘Yon ang sabi ng pinuno e. Karapatan n’yong sundin ‘yon. Kaya goodbye democracy hello oligarchy. Goodbye vision and platform hello incompetence. Goodbye integrity hello selective justice and corruption. Goodbye progress hello third world. Sumisigaw ng separation of church and state pero ipinagmamalaking game changer ng social and political affairs sa bansa. Pffft!
tama ka dyan adre. ako katoliko pero pag-nakikita ko ung ugaling pinoy na pangit naiinis ako. kesehodang anong relihiyon ka pa ipakain ko yang basura mo sayo eh.
Nakuha mo, parekoy.
Let’s take a break from the discussion. How about some puto and dinuguan, anyone?
why INC is rallying? here is why
http://www.manilatimes.net/reap-the-whirlwind-whats-behind-the-inc-revolt/214373/
Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
its time for the Pilipinos to show the real MAD PNOY Hacienda luisita self interest yellow deception of the removal of JUstice Corona, where Senatong Tanda and tongressman toofast to convict with bribed bathub money of napolis money bathtub auditors. Yes, Justice Corona was removed because he was a hindrance to the distribution of the hacienda to the mendiola massacred victims farmers of tarlac. More people power to the Iglesia ni Kristo ang tunay na kapatid na nagbunyag ng kasamaan ng yellow oligarchs na mang aaping asindero.
its time for the Pilipinos to show the real MAD PNOY Hacienda luisita self interest yellow deception of the removal of JUstice Corona, where Senatong Tanda and tongressman toofast to convict with bribed bathub money
of napolis money bathtub auditors. Yes, Justice Corona was removed because he was a hindrance to the distribution of the hacienda to the mendiola massacred victims farmers of tarlac. More people power to the Iglesia ni Kristo ang tunay na kapatid na nagbunyag ng kasamaan ng yellow oligarchs na mang aaping asindero.
I thought it was a prayer rally/vigil. 😛