Political Tensions Swell as 14,000-Strong Rally Paralyzes Manila

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(Bloomberg) — Over 14,000 people from an influential religious group staged surprise protests in the Philippine capital on Tuesday, crippling the main thoroughfare and further fueling political tensions.

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Crowds have gotten larger since members of Iglesia ni Cristo occupied parts of Manila’s central highway at dawn, using their vans and buses to block lanes and snarling traffic across the metro for hours. Around 6,500 security personnel were deployed to protest areas.

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The rally, which didn’t hold a permit and blindsided local authorities, is the most disruptive yet during the term of embattled President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. It also takes place just days before the start of an impeachment trial against his rival Vice President Sara Duterte.

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The government slammed the protests and warned it would hurt the economy, while Duterte said in a statement that the current leadership has “fostered an increasingly oppressive political environment” that weaponizes the justice system.

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The demonstration on Tuesday was largely in support of the Duterte-allied Senator Rodante Marcoleta after the Office of the Ombudsman said it was planning to file a plunder case against him regarding campaign donations he received during the 2025 elections.

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Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro told a briefing that the Marcos administration is merely implementing the law and holding the ones responsible to account.

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With Duterte’s own impeachment trial set to start on Monday, the Philippines’ long-running political drama risks distracting a government that’s already grappling with slowing economic growth and high inflation.

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In a video message on Facebook, Marcoleta said the plunder case is meant to silence him because he’s probing the multibillion peso corruption scandal on flood infrastructure projects. His political opponents are also hoping to prevent him from participating in Duterte’s impeachment trial, he added.

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“We are calling for transparency, accountability, justice and peace,” the church said in a statement read by spokesman Edwil Zabala on Net25 television network which the group owns. “Even if they jail Senator Marcoleta, we will not stop calling for justice for our countrymen who were robbed.”

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Iglesia ni Cristo, widely known for voting as a bloc during elections, supported the tandem of Marcos and Duterte in 2022 before their alliance collapsed over policy differences.

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In November, hundreds of thousands of members of the religious group organized a two-day anti-graft rally, calling for transparency and accountability in government following the corruption scandal.

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Marcos canceled his public engagements on Tuesday including a forum organized by a foreign correspondents association to monitor the protests, his office said. He will proceed with his state visit to Canada scheduled for July 1 to 4.

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If the president bows down to the pressure, he will “torpedo his anti-corruption legacy down the toilet,” said Michael Henry Yusingco, senior research fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center in Manila.

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He urged the president to “get in front of the public. Condemn the rally for disrupting the lives of millions of Filipinos.”

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(Recasts and adds comments from vice president, Marcos’ office and analyst.)

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