MANILA: Thousands of members of a powerful Philippine religious sect rallied in Manila on Tuesday (Jun 30), snarling rush-hour traffic for kilometres in every direction as they protested the looming arrest of a senator and church member.
The rally came a day after it was announced that Senator Rodante Marcoleta, a member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) church and an ally of impeached Vice President Sara Duterte, was set to be charged with graft tied to his election campaign fund.
The INC has historically been a powerful voting bloc with ties to the Duterte political dynasty and Marcoleta is widely viewed as an all-but-certain vote against convicting Duterte at her Senate trial, which begins next week.
Police who spoke to AFP said they expected the crowd at the Manila thoroughfare known as EDSA to grow throughout the day.
“As of now, the crowd count is 8,000 and we are expecting that this will increase,” said regional police spokeswoman Hazel Asilo.
“The event has caused massive traffic this morning, especially to people who are going to work or to school,” she said, adding that only bus lanes were passable.
In a video message posted to Facebook, INC spokesman Edwil Zabala said the group was there to call for transparency.
“We want to make it heard by those in authority that even if they imprison Senator Marcoleta, we will not stop demanding justice,” Zabala said.
“We want to let them know that selective justice is an injustice and we will not remain silent.”
Government ombudsman Jesus Remulla said on Monday Marcoleta was set to be charged over a failure to declare 75 million pesos (US$1.2 million) in unused election campaign contributions.
