Battle for the streets

The Iglesia ni Cristo’s rally on Tuesday put at least 600,000 people on the streets in one of the biggest show-of-force demonstrations since the 1986 People Power Revolution.

It came on the heels of the 26th anniversary of the first Edsa upheaval. The administration of President Aquino used the anniversary to rally public support for its campaign to remove Chief Justice Renato Corona from the Supreme Court through impeachment. The President’s rally at the People Power monument near Camp Aguinaldo drew only a few hundred participants, most of whom were government officials and employees trucked in by local governments.

The fact that the INC staged its show of force after the Edsa anniversary clearly transformed the two events into a battle for control of the streets. The massive turnout at the INC rally dwarfed and put to shame the government rally.

The INC turnout blasted the myth that the Aquino dynasty—from Cory Aquino to P-Noy—is the master of People Power, which supposedly takes orders from it to follow blindly its political objectives. The turnout demonstrated that the Aquino demonstration had no control of the streets and did not have the capacity to mobilize masses of people to support its actions related to Corona’s trial now underway at the Senate impeachment court.

On Feb. 24, the eve of the Edsa anniversary, about 1,000 protesters appeared at the Supreme Court to call for the resignation of Corona, whom they described as the “public enemy of the Edsa People Power Revolution.” Their protest was a “call on the people to relive the spirit of Edsa and stand up against the modern-day enemies of Edsa.” Members of the party-list group Akbayan demanded the resignation or removal of Corona, who, they said, “tried to frustrate truth, justice and accountability.” They said Filipinos should once again harness their strength to remove Corona from office, even though the impeachment trial had not yet been completed. This protest was swamped days later by the INC counter-demonstration.

Whether the INC’s rally was a purely religious gathering or a political show of force, the massive turnout was proof that it had the capacity to fill the streets with people, and that the government did not. The INC claimed that the rally was “a Bible exposition” that was part of the celebrations leading up to its centennial in 2014. Reluctant to have a confrontation with the INC, which has a voting potential of one million and which has demonstrated political clout in elections, the Aquino administration dismissed speculations that the church group was launching an event to support Corona. INC spokesperson Bienvenido  Santiago insisted that the rally was a purely religious event. But INC sources, who declined to be identified, said: “The INC leadership and most of our  members are displeased with how the [administration] is treating some of our brethren. It seems that the [administration] is only interested in exacting revenge against its political opponents [instead] of bringing reforms for the good of the Filipino people.”

Asked if the church hierarchy would issue a statement against the President, a source said: “Do we really have to say the words? The number of the INC  members who trooped to the event is enough indication of our position.”

The INC backed Mr. Aquino in the 2010 presidential election, but their relations soured when the administration started actions to impeach the Chief Justice. Corona’s lead defense counsel in the impeachment trial, Serafin Cuevas, is an INC member. Malacañang was said to have tried to put pressure on Cuevas to withdraw as head of the defense panel.

Another INC source said the rally was a “show of force” to deliver a strong message to the administration. But it was understood that the INC was not gearing up to have a confrontation with the pro-Aquino yellow army supporters in the streets.

The INC invited Corona and justices of the Supreme Court to the rally, but they didn’t attend to avoid giving the impression that they were politicizing the event. A number of politicians were invited. There were reports that the President was also invited but that he opted not to attend. To avoid giving a political color to the event, no politician spoke at the rally. The INC took pains to avoid provocative political action during the rally.

Only two key INC figures were allowed to speak: Reynaldo de los Reyes and Arnel Tumanan, assistant dean of the College of Evangelical Ministry.

The President was asked by reporters if he sensed that the INC was sending him a subtle message. He said: “How about the number who are supportive of our efforts? I think you should also mention that.” He was apparently referring to his high popularity ratings in the public opinion surveys.

But these numbers do not translate into warm bodies making up the river of massed bodies like those mobilized by the INC in its rally. These data are projections of popularity ratings. They are mirages of phantom armies. The message is that these phantoms are not warm bodies that deliver results in elections or hold protest actions in the streets. The INC demonstrated in the Tuesday rally that it can deliver masses to the streets. The message is delivered to the senator-judges that their chances of gaining the INC block of disciplined votes depends on how they will vote in Corona’s impeachment trial.