On January 13, 2025, more than a million members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) went into the streets of Manila and other major cities in the Philippines to hold what it said was a peace rally that called for unity in the government. The context of the massive gathering is not hidden from the public. The leadership of the INC explained that they are supporting the call of President Bongbong Marcos to stop actions related to the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Political pundits know that the move of the INC is to show its strength behind VP Sara Duterte. The question is, does it have the moral force and effect to call for peace and unity despite its obvious political reason? Critics say that the call for peace and unity of the INC is a sham and tainted with hypocrisy because the Vice President is going through a difficult time due to the impeachment cases she is facing in Congress.
As of the moment, the House of Representatives has not acted on the complaint. The process involves firstly the endorsement of a complaint by a member of Congress, which the complainants have since complied with. Once the complaints are sent to the Speaker of the House, it must transmit the same to the justice committee which has 60 session days to act on it. The case can be sent directly to the Senate if a third of the members of Congress will sign the complaint, or roughly 103 congressmen.
Two thirds of the 24-member Senate (now 23 since the resignation of Senator Sonny Angara who assumed the post of Department of Education secretary after the Vice President resigned from the said position) is needed to convict the Vice President. If the Vice President is found guilty, notably on the alleged misuse of confidential funds, she can be removed from office and barred from running for public office or what is legally known as “perpetual disqualification”. But right now, it is a waiting game since several senators fear the impact of the INC in the forthcoming midterm elections.
What I seek to explain here is not the merits of the case nor the political aspect of the impeachment itself. Let’s leave to Congress such a complex and complicated political and legal process. Although there are rules to follow should the Senate be transformed into an impeachment court, it is obvious that impeachment is largely political in nature and for that reason, the move of the INC appears cogent and beneficial to the interest of the Vice President. The next question is, can this be tolerated in a liberal society where there’s a separation between state and religion?
In a theo-ethical equilibrium, as explained by Audi, religion can be political and for that matter, people can’t be questioned if their faith or even religious leaders teach them to follow a particular political decision. The believer cannot be insulated from political issues and must understand how one’s political choices can affect the moral life of the faithful who is also a citizen of the state. While there’s a comparison being made between the Catholic Church and the INC, it should be noted that the INC did not question Jaime Cardinal Sin when he called his flock to converge at EDSA to protect then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and Gen. Fidel Ramos, who both defected from the first Marcos administration. The Catholic Church cannot be mighty proud of EDSA People Power I for no reason.
In defense of the INC, it is well within their right, following their freedom of conscience, to make choices and act on the basis of their sense of justice. In fact, they are not directly saying that they are supporting the Vice President. It is political pundits and armchair analysts who made such insinuation. There appears to be a latent double standard if we refuse to question the position of the Catholic Church on political matters and for endorsing its own political views and yet, we call out another religious organization and carelessly label it a cult when their politics does not align with ours.
