Religious Sect Flexes Muscle With Manila Protests Against Marcos

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(Bloomberg) — Just weeks after assuming office in 2022, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. paid a courtesy call to the leader of a religious group who helped him secure a landslide election win. Now, the same group has mounted one of the most sustained protests yet against his administration.

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The Iglesia ni Cristo, a wealthy homegrown Christian sect with 2.8 million devout members, had taken to the streets in Manila for three days to demand the government drop a probe into lawmaker Rodante Marcoleta, the group’s first member to reach the 24-member Senate. He’s set to be charged with plunder as early as this week over undeclared campaign donations.

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Although Marcoleta has denied wrongdoing, the charges could see him detained while he awaits trial — effectively sidelining a staunch ally of Vice President Sara Duterte right as her impeachment trial gets underway in the Senate. That would diminish her support in the proceedings, which threatens to disqualify her from the 2028 presidential race.

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The protests “increase the political pressure” on senators who will act as jurors in Duterte’s trial, according to Gary Ador Dionisio, dean of the School of Diplomacy and Governance at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in Manila. Marcos risks angering the sect if Marcoleta is charged and arrested, but failing to act may undermine public confidence in the rule of law, he added.

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“The administration now faces a defining governance test,” Dionisio said. “The Iglesia ni Cristo remains one of the country’s most focused and politically organized religious institutions.” 

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The protests are yet another display of the religious group’s growing political muscle. For decades, politicians in the Southeast Asian nation have courted the support of the INC, which is known for voting as a bloc — giving it outsized influence even though it accounts for just over 2% of the population. The last five presidential candidates endorsed by the sect have gone on to win.

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Established by preacher Felix Manalo in 1914, the Iglesia ni Cristo, or Church of Christ in English, has expanded to 7,000 congregations and missions in 168 countries and territories. Its places of worship stand out with their distinct white coloring and towering spires.

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The sect also has considerable financial might. It receives regular donations from its members and also owns and operates several businesses, including the Philippine Arena, the world’s largest mixed-use indoor theater, which has hosted musical acts like Coldplay and Bruno Mars.

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“The INC is testing the possibilities of its bloc in these rallies, given that they were able to catapult one of their own in the Senate,” said Jean Encinas-Franco, a professor at the University of the Philippines, referring to Marcoleta. “They want to make it known that they can also prevent him from being arrested.”

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The president has so far struck a cordial tone toward the religious group, even after the flash protest on Tuesday blindsided local authorities and crippled traffic across the Philippine capital.

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“I am confident because in the history of Iglesia, when they hold a rally, even with a massive crowd, they do not cause trouble,” Marcos said Wednesday before departing for a visit to Canada.