Thousands from Philippine sect protest against pro-Duterte senator’s graft case
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Thousands of members of a powerful Philippine religious sect rallied in Manila on June 30, snarling up rush-hour traffic for kilometres in every direction.
PHOTO: BATAS PH/FACEBOOK
MANILA – Thousands of members of a powerful Philippine religious sect rallied in Manila on June 30, snarling up traffic as they protested against the expected arrest of a senator and church member.
The rally came a day after the authorities announced that Senator Rodante Marcoleta, a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) church and an ally of impeached Vice-President Sara Duterte, was set to be charged with graft tied to his election campaign fund.
The INC has historically been a powerful voting bloc with ties to the Duterte political dynasty and Marcoleta is widely viewed as an all-but-certain vote against convicting Duterte at her Senate impeachment trial, which begins next week.
Protesters who spoke to AFP said they had been contacted by organisers around 9pm the night before via text, phone calls and messages on the Telegram platform.
“This is a lightning protest. As you know, the Iglesia ni Cristo is just one body. With just one command, everybody will follow,” said 56-year-old Rodel Gundrean.
Church member Marc Raeden Quemada, 26, said he had been at the protest since 6am and did not plan to leave “until we’re told to go home”.
As at 2pm, traffic remained in a bottleneck in the area, with police estimating a crowd of 12,000.
“We’re expecting the number of people will still increase... so there might still be traffic tonight,” regional police spokeswoman Hazel Asilo told AFP.
Government ombudsman Jesus Remulla on June 29 revealed that Marcoleta was set to be charged over a failure to declare 75 million pesos (S$1.6 million) in unused election campaign contributions.
Prosecutors in May filed charges against another Duterte loyalist, Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, over his alleged involvement in a massive corruption scandal over bogus flood control projects that enraged the country.
Another Duterte ally, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, is in hiding after narrowly escaping arrest on an International Criminal Court warrant over his role in the deadly drug war conducted by her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
In a video message ahead of June 30’s rally, INC spokesman Edwil Zabala said the church was calling for “transparency” in standing by Marcoleta.
“We want to let them know that selective justice is an injustice and we will not remain silent,” he said.
Vice-President Duterte issued a separate statement saying President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’ administration had “weaponised the justice system by filing cases against and imprisoning individuals who dare speak out against alleged corruption”.
In November, the INC rallied a crowd estimated in the hundreds of thousands, calling for accountability over a spiralling flood control scandal involving officials and lawmakers, while placing most of the blame on Marcos.
Earlier in 2025, INC held a huge rally in Manila opposing the mooted impeachment of Duterte, who has had a spectacular falling out with one-time ally Marcos.
While that impeachment was reversed by the country’s Supreme Court, Duterte was impeached once again by the House of Representatives in May.
Her trial is set to begin on July 6, with 16 votes in the 24-seat Senate required for a guilty verdict that would see her removed as vice-president and permanently banned from elected office.
On June 30, Marcos cancelled a planned luncheon with the foreign press to monitor the situation. AFP
