Reckless brinkmanship

By Artchil B. Fernandez

There is a significant shift in Iglesia ni Cristo’s (INC) foray into politics now that the sect has been sucked into the DDS universe. Before, the INC quietly stayed outside the limelight, confining its political ventures to bloc voting. During the 20-year rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the INC silently supported him by largely staying in the background.

Today, the INC has abandoned its unobtrusive stance by being at the forefront of political action. Its members are the shock troops of politicians in trouble with the law. When its handpicked and supported politicians have entanglements with the law, the INC comes to the rescue by mobilizing its members in protest actions to shield them.

Last year, the INC mobilized its members twice to protest against the current administration. The first was on Jan. 13, 2025, when Vice President Sara Duterte was first impeached. The INC organized a protest action supporting her disguised as a “rally for peace.” Hundreds of thousands of the sect’s members gathered at Quirino Grandstand to question her impeachment.

Then, at the end of 2025, the sect again flexed its muscle in a two-day protest for transparency, accountability, justice, and peace at Quirino Grandstand. The mass action was suspected as a cover for a destabilization plot against the administration. The destabilization fizzled out. It was in this second rally where Imee Marcos alleged that her brother, Bongbong Marcos (BBM), is a longtime drug user, along with his wife and children.

This week, the INC held a surprise protest action at EDSA Shrine, paralyzing traffic in the area. The objective of the protest action was to protect Sen. Rodante Marcoleta by preventing his impending arrest. Prior to the sudden protest action of the INC, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla announced that his office was filing plunder charges against Marcoleta, who is an INC member.

The case against Marcoleta began in November 2025, when he publicly admitted on Net 25, an INC cable channel, that he received campaign donations amounting to PHP 75 million. The donated amount, however, was not declared in the Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE) he submitted to the Comelec. A case was filed against him before the poll body for nondisclosure of campaign contributions, an election offense. In his reply, Marcoleta admitted he received three campaign donations before the start of the official campaign period: PHP 30 million, PHP 25 million, and PHP 20 million, or a total of PHP 75 million. The Comelec eventually dismissed the case against him, ruling that since the money was given before the start of the election campaign, there was no violation of election rules. Marcoleta was off the hook.

While Marcoleta escaped an election rules violation, which carries a light penalty, his explanation opened the door for a much more serious case of plunder. The Ombudsman noticed that the PHP 75 million was not only omitted in the SOCE, but it was also not declared in Marcoleta’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). There is a possible violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019) and the Plunder Law (Republic Act No. 7080) by Marcoleta. Plunder is involved since the amount is above PHP 50 million, the threshold for plunder. After investigating the matter, the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Bureau recommended the filing of charges for plunder, indirect bribery, and violation of Presidential Decree No. 46, which prohibits public officials from receiving gifts.

The Ombudsman’s announcement on the filing of plunder charges against Marcoleta prompted the INC to stage a protest action to save him from arrest. The sect claims Marcoleta cannot be charged with plunder since the money involved is not public funds but private money. The claim is a misreading of the plunder law since it does not limit plunder to public funds but covers all amounts regardless of source. Erap Estrada was charged with plunder for receiving jueteng money, a private source.

The INC is playing a game of reckless brinkmanship with its latest incursion into partisan politics in the case of Marcoleta, as well as in the two protest actions last year. It risks eroding its reputation as a religious sect and the sting of its organized protest action. The two protest actions it initiated last year failed to achieve anything. Sara Duterte was impeached twice. Her trial in the second impeachment starts next week. The other protest action last year did not destabilize BBM’s administration. The latest protest action was also for naught, with Marcoleta’s plunder case still proceeding.

The reckless brinkmanship of the INC is self-destructive. The public, grossly inconvenienced by the INC’s EDSA protest, heavily criticized and condemned the group’s activity. The public backlash severely damaged the sect’s religious credentials.

Worse, the BBM administration deliberately ignored the INC EDSA protest. It was business as usual for the administration, indicating that the mob unleashed by the INC had no bite. The INC can protest till kingdom come, to no avail. In this game of brinkmanship, the INC blinked since it could not sustain the protest for a long time. The public as a whole — aside from negative reactions — stayed away from the INC protest despite the sect’s plea for support. The INC EDSA rally was relegated to irrelevance, a petty nuisance.

The INC grossly overestimated its influence and political relevance. It wrongly assumed the current administration would bend the knee and the public would bow to its wishes since it can affect elections through bloc voting. The limit of the INC’s political sway was laid bare by the EDSA protest action. The INC has no power to dictate national politics. The loss of political, social, and symbolic capital is the most serious damage to the INC caused by its reckless brinkmanship. The sect is exposed as a paper tiger, its political clout a phantasm. Henceforth, the INC’s capacity to blackmail the public is vastly diminished.

The reckless brinkmanship of the INC is the fruit of its arrogance and pomposity. Blinded by pride, the 3 million-member sect presumed it could impose itself on 120 million Filipinos. Its gamesmanship resulted only in the considerable shrinking of the INC’s political potency. From religious and political standpoints, the INC has terribly undermined itself.