Church rally backing Philippine V-P Sara Duterte draws more than 1 million

MANILA – More than one million people joined a rally in the Philippine capital organised by a religious group opposing moves in Congress to impeach Vice-President Sara Duterte, in what is likely a show of force to stun her critics.

Iglesia ni Cristo members, wearing white shirts, held a “rally for peace” on Jan 13 amid a deepening feud between Ms Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Some 1.5 million people filled the historic Quirino Grandstand in Manila City and nearby streets as at noon, according to the police, ahead of the 4pm programme.

The Iglesia promoted Jan 13’s demonstration, which was replicated in a handful of key provinces, as a show of support for Mr Marcos’ opposition to lawmakers’ moves to oust his deputy, even as ties between the country’s most popular political dynasties have collapsed.

The massive gathering in Manila shows how the Duterte family still holds political sway, although not as solid as when patriarch Rodrigo Duterte was in power.

A Pulse Asia survey in late 2024 showed the Vice-President getting a 50 per cent approval rating, with both her and Mr Marcos suffering declines in popularity as their feud intensified.

“If the message is to set aside politics and support the President’s pronouncement to set aside the impeachment, I think many will think twice on the impeachment,” Senator Sherwin Gatchalian told local radio DWIZ.

Support from the Iglesia, known for voting as a bloc, is important during elections, the senator said.

The South-east Asian nation is set to hold midterm polls in May.

The Quirino grandstand where Iglesia members are gathered is where Pope Francis drew a crowd of six million to his mass in 2015.

The rally is an attempt to shield Ms Duterte from accountability, lawmaker France Castro, who endorsed an impeachment petition against the Vice-President, was quoted by the Inquirer as saying.

While the mega church’s endorsement could boost a candidate’s chances, it is not a sure way to victory.

The Iglesia in 2016 endorsed Mr Marcos for the vice-presidential race, which he lost.

Ms Duterte is facing three impeachment complaints

, all filed at the House of Representatives in December, centred on accusations that she misused public funds. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Marcos has distanced himself from moves to oust Ms Duterte, calling his rift with the Vice-President a “storm in a teacup.”

That is after his deputy said in November that in the event that she is killed,

she had arranged for the killing of the President, his wife and his cousin

, the House Speaker.

“The rally could be a reminder to the Marcos camp of what ‘People Power’ did, and can still do, to topple a dictatorship,” said Mr Michael Henry Yusingco, a senior research fellow at Ateneo Policy Centre.

Philippine mass uprisings have toppled governments in the past, ousting the late dictator Marcos in 1986 and impeached leader Joseph Estrada in 2001.

Public opinion is split on the impeachment complaints against Ms Duterte, with 41 per cent agreeing while 35 per cent disagreeing in a commissioned Social Weather Stations survey in December.

Nearly a fifth said they are still undecided about moves to impeach Ms Duterte. BLOOMBERG