RALLY / INC RALLY ALSO IN PROVINCES
[PHOTO - [Parked
buses clog a long stretch of Roxas Boulevard after ferrying people attending a
prayer rally of the Iglesia ni Cristo yesterday. Right photo shows the mammoth
crowd at the Quirino Grandstand. AP/JONJON
VICENCIO)]
MANILA,
MARCH 1, 2012 (PHILSTAR) By
Sandy Araneta and Evelyn Macairan - Only the Bible and no politics.
Leaders of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) stressed this during their Grand
Evangelical Mission prayer rally at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park
yesterday.
And to avoid accusations of using the prayer rally for political purposes,
Chief Justice Renato Corona was a no-show.
Hours before the start of the prayer rally, New Era College of Law dean
Abraham Espejo announced that Corona would not attend.
"The CJ is, however, going to watch the mission on Net 25. He congratulates
the INC for its important role in shaping the spiritual lives of millions of
Filipinos," Espejo said in a text message to reporters.
INC leaders insisted that the rally was for God, not for Corona.
INC General Evangelist of the Church and spokesperson Bienvenido Santiago
clarified their Grand Evangelical Mission was not to show support for Corona,
who is facing an impeachment trial.
"This is for us a proclamation. This is not for anybody else but to praise
God for the salvation of all men, to express the faith for the salvation of all
men who believe in our teachings of God," Santiago said.
"The gathering (yesterday) afternoon is purely a religious gathering and not
as insinuated by others. Our brothers are here to listen to the word of God whom
we worship," he added.
Santiago said their prayer rally was not related to the ongoing Corona
impeachment. He stressed the two events might have only have been coincidental.
Santiago though admitted that he is also thankful even if there had been a
lot of misconceptions on the purpose of their event, because had there been no
media hype there could have been lesser people in attendance.
Police estimated at least 600,000 people turned up at the event, which also
tied up traffic in different areas surrounding Rizal Park in Manila. The prayer
rally formally began at 5 p.m. and ended two hours later.
Police shut major roads in Manila from midday and deployed about 500 officers
as tens of thousands of INC members trooped to the Quirino Grandstand at Rizal
Park.
The three million-strong INC is one of a handful of religious groups courted
by politicians of all stripes during election campaigns for its reported massive
bloc vote that gives it huge political clout.
Reports said President Aquino's previously strong ties with the INC have
soured since Chief Justice Corona – who has indirect links to the INC – was
impeached in December, stirring condemnation from the group.
But Aquino said yesterday the INC had assured him the rallies were purely
religious events leading up to the 100th anniversary of its founding in 2014.
"There are others who are saying that there is a political dimension here,"
Aquino told reporters.
"Their official communication to us is this is part of their religious
obligations and part of their faith," he added, stressing that the INC had
helped him win the 2010 election.
Aquino said that politicians would normally be welcome to join the rally but
he had been advised to stay away to avoid giving "a political tinge" to the
event and detracting from its "religious intention."
VIPs
The INC said it just so happened that the year 2012 has been declared as a
year for "evangelization" and they decided to conduct a big event during the
first part of the year, sometime February.
Santiago said there were very important persons (VIPs) present at the
gathering but they would not be allowed to speak.
He clarified the VIPs were not invited by the INC but by individual members.
Among those seen in the event were Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez,
former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Magtanggol Gatdula,
former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, Laguna Gov. Emilio Ramon Ejercito, Pangasinan
Rep. Gina de Venecia, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, Quezon City Mayor Herbert
Bautista, and Pasay Mayor Antonio Calixto.
On Monday night, Espejo told reporters that Corona would attend the event
together with Gatdula.
Espejo also said Corona and Gatdula were supposed to meet at the lobby of the
Manila Hotel before going to Quirino Grandstand for the rally.
But it was only Gatdula who appeared at the hotel together with Espejo,
former justice secretary Artemio Tuquero and lawyer Ferdinand Topacio. Espejo,
Gatdula, Tuquero and Topacio are all members of INC.
Espejo is also legal counsel for Gatdula, who was fired from the NBI after
being linked to the kidnapping and extortion of a Japanese national.
[PHOTO - Thousands of members of Iglesia ni Cristo walk toward the
Quirino Grandstand yesterday. JONJON VICENCIO]
Topacio, on the other hand, is the lawyer of former President and now
Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her electoral sabotage case pending
before the Pasay City court.
Sought for interview at the hotel, Espejo, Gatdula and Topacio refused,
saying they were not allowed to talk on any issue.
Gatdula though confirmed Corona will not appear to dispel any "political
color" in their religious activity.
The police said about 160,000 initially gathered at Rizal Park in the early
afternoon, three hours before the official start of the event.
Manila Police District (MPD) Operations chief Superintendent Amante Daro said
the crowd swelled to 200,000 later in the afternoon.
Another 100,000 sect members had also gathered in Tarlac. Farther north, some
150,000 also gathered in Ilagan, Isabela on their way to attend the gathering.
Hundreds of passenger buses and jeepneys had been hired to ferry INC members
from the provinces to Manila.
The Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said they
granted special permits to some 647 passenger buses to ferry the INC members.
Police said at least 8,000 vehicles of all types were parked along the roads
leading to the gathering.
Major thoroughfares had been closed to vehicular traffic to accommodate the
growing number of INC members which organizers said could reach up to three
million.
Some INC members were seen having a picnic in front of the National Museum
and other roads leading to Rizal Park.
Daro also reported that a huge number of INC members had diverted their
routes to the Mall of Asia in Pasay City, as they could no longer make their way
to the Quirino Grandstand due to traffic gridlock.
Daro said policemen were deployed to help INC members who had to walk for
hours along Diosdado Macapagal Avenue to Quirino Grandstand.
Security was tightened at Quirino Grandstand before dawn yesterday as INC
members started arriving.
Police kept watch over the Rizal Park area, including nearby roads and
hotels, as buses and jeeps carrying delegates from the provinces arrived.
While a traffic rerouting scheme was not due to take effect until noon, a
portion of T.M. Kalaw Street up to the National Library was closed as buses and
jeeps parked in the area.
The early delegations came from Quezon and Pampanga provinces as well as the
Bicol region.
Buses started arriving as early as 2 a.m., even as some INC members spent the
night at the grandstand.
INC members even had their own radio group and ambulances, with one of the
ambulances responding to an accident in Vito Cruz before dawn. –With Reinir Padua, Non Alquitran, Jaime Laude, Raymund Catindig,
Ric Sapnu
FROM MANILA TIMES
Iglesia ni Cristo rallies also held in provinces
Philippine Daily Inquirer
[PHOTO - POWER OF RELIGION Hundreds of thousands of Iglesia ni Cristo
members gather at Manila's Quirino Grandstand for Tuesday's grand prayer rally.
Richard Reyes]
Tens of thousands of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) members also converged in the
cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Bacolod, San Jose town in Tarlac,
Ilagan town in Isabela, and Pili town in Camarines Sur, for the Grand
Evangelical Mission which was held simultaneously with the Luneta event.
Rains did not stop members from massing at Tionko Football Field near the old
Davao Agro Foundation School in Davao City to listen to INC leaders.
Ramil Culot, an INC member, said over 150,000 were expected to come from
Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley and Davao del Sur. In Cagayan
de Oro, thousands were gathered at Limketkai parking lot.
In Cebu, hundreds of members arrived at Fuente Osmeña Circle on buses,
jeepneys and other vehicles. Meanwhile in Bacolod, police placed the size of the
crowd at Paglaum Sports Complex at 60,000.
Chief Inspector Luisito Acebuche, Bacolod police traffic chief, said 2,000
vehicles ferrying the participants slowed traffic along the major streets of
Lacson and Hernaez.
At least 35,000 members from the Bicol provinces gathered at the Camarines
Sur Sports Complex in Barangay San Jose village, Pili, said Senior
Superintendent Procopio Lipana, acting provincial police chief.
In Tarlac, thousands of members from central and northern Luzon met at the
Tarlac Sports Complex in San Jose. Police reported heavy traffic in Tarlac City
and in routes leading to the event site starting at noon.
In Isabela, police said 20,000 INC members joined the event at the Isabela
Sports Complex in the capital town of Ilagan.
Classes were dismissed early and evening classes were suspended to allow
students to go home in anticipation of the traffic congestion in Tarlac. With reports from Germelina Lacorte and Cai Panlilio, Inquirer
Mindanao; Irene R. Sino-Cruz and Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas; Juan Escandor
Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon; Jo Martinez-Clemente and Armand Galang, Inquirer
Central Luzon; and Villamor Visaya, Inquirer Northern Luzon
Chief News Editor: Sol
Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE
NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS
ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
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