(UPDATE) The Quezon City government rejected a new request for a permit to rally by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) on Thursday, an official said Wednesday.
The lightning strike on June 30 at the People Power Monument angered motorists caught in traffic snarls throughout the day, but the city government had granted the INC a permit for Wednesday.
Elmo San Diego, the city’s Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) chief, told The Manila Times the city government would have allowed a permit for a third day, but decided not to issue another one because of many complaints the Office of the Mayor has received.
“The city government is facing several complaints and the rally is causing widespread inconvenience,” the DPOS head said in Filipino.
The religious sect organized a surprise protest rally in support of Marcoleta on June 30, creating traffic jams in Metro Manila. Later on, organizers added that the rally was organized to call for transparency, accountability, justice and peace.
The no-permit rally was staged Tuesday after the Office of the Ombudsman said it was set to file a plunder case against Marcoleta, a sect member, before the Sandiganbayan for accepting P75 million in campaign donations.
The second day of the INC rally prompted road closures and traffic buildup early Wednesday along EDSA after organizers secured a rally permit from the Quezon City government. But by 3 p.m., police reported an estimated crowd size of 5,000, a sharp drop from the first day’s count of about 14,000.
Meanwhile, protesters who camped overnight at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila said they were not members of INC.
In an interview with The Manila Times, Alan Tabanggay, councilor of Bilaran, Nasugbu, Batangas, and one of the organizers of the rally, said they are not affiliated with the INC but support its calls for transparency and accountability.
He further noted that the protest is not aimed at pressuring authorities to drop the case being prepared against Marcoleta but at calling for transparency and adherence to due process.
Some 500 people were already stationed at the freedom park, and half of them would join the INC rally on EDSA, which was attended by Batangas Rep. Leandro Leviste.
On the rally’s second day, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) closed the EDSA Ortigas northbound service road and White Plains Avenue in both eastbound and westbound directions.
Traffic was moderate to slow moving on the southbound lanes of EDSA from Camp Crame to White Plains.
Northbound traffic was also moderate to slow moving from EDSA Ortigas to White Plains.
The MMDA advised motorists to expect delays in the affected areas, take alternate routes whenever possible, and said traffic personnel remained deployed to manage vehicle flow.
‘Don’t be used’
Malacañang on Wednesday urged the members of the INC not to allow their group to be used by those seeking to oust President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro issued the warning following reports circulating on social media about an alleged possible attempt by protesters to storm Camp Aguinaldo, Camp Crame and even Malacañang.
“That is why, at this point, our appeal to the leadership of the INC is to remain cautious and ensure they are not used by others whose objective is to oust the president, because we know that this is not what the INC is encouraging,” Castro said during a press conference. Castro also said the Palace does not believe the INC is behind any destabilization efforts against the Marcos administration.
“Which of the protesters? We certainly do not believe and we do not want to believe that members of the INC would be the ones to do such a thing,” Castro said. “As we’ve said, we respect the integrity and leadership of the INC. We do not believe that the purpose of their protest is to destabilize the government,” she added. The Palace official said that some groups have long sought to remove Marcos from office but the government is ready to thwart any such attempt.
“This information has already reached us, and even if it turns out to be nothing more than a rumor or an attempt to intimidate, our authorities will not simply dismiss it,” she said.
‘Marcoleta must be accountable’
Civil society groups, church leaders and political parties that took park in the Trillion Peso Marches along EDSA last year criticized the INC for rallying in support of Marcoleta, who is facing a plunder charge.
“We reject every attempt — whether by politicians, influential organizations, or self-appointed moral authorities — to exploit public faith, democratic symbols, or popular support to insulate the powerful from accountability,” the groups and organizations said in a joint statement posted on the page of Tindig Pilipinas on Wednesday.
The groups that signed the joint statement included Tindig Pilipinas, Akbayan Party-list, the Liberal Party (LP) of the Philippines, Mamamayang Liberal Party-list, the August Twenty One Movement (ATOM) and several other opposition-led organizations.
“In a constitutional democracy, no public official — regardless of popularity, office, political influence, or institutional backing — should require the organized mobilization of thousands of supporters to influence, discourage, or cast doubt upon the impartial enforcement of the law. Accountability is not determined by the size of one’s following but by the strength of the evidence and the independence of our institutions,” the groups said.
“Our concern is not the constitutional right to peaceful assembly, nor is it the choice of EDSA as the venue. Every Filipino enjoys the freedoms of expression, religion and peaceful assembly... The issue is the use of collective political and institutional power to place certain individuals beyond the accountability that every public official owes the Filipino people,” they added.
In other developments, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano reiterated his call for law enforcement authorities to uphold the constitutional right of Filipinos to peacefully assemble, as the protest organized by the INC entered its second day under a permit issued by local authorities. He called on the police to exercise “maximum tolerance” and recognize the right to peaceful protest.
Former PNP chief Nicolas Torre III said a video of him urging protesters to remain peaceful was recorded in September 2025 after it was recirculated online with captions claiming it was a message in support of the INC rally along EDSA. The video, originally uploaded on Sept. 20, 2025, was recorded a day before the Sept. 21, 2025, demonstrations and showed Torre urging rally participants to be careful, responsible and peaceful, saying that true change begins not with violence but with unity. WITH ARIC JOHN SY CUA AND JAVIER JOE ISMAEL
