MANILA, Philippines – The Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) opposed the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte over a crimes against humanity complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a statement aired on the church-run NET25 on Friday, March 21, INC spokesman Edwil Zabala also criticized the Marcos government for failing to heed their earlier call for “peace and unity.”
“Any Filipino or citizen of our country who has committed a violation of our laws should be tried here in our country. Why? Because our justice system works,” Zabala said in Filipino.
“We are not saying that the former president should not be tried for the charges against him. As for us, the Iglesia ni Cristo trusts in the integrity and competence of the judiciary to decide such matters and issues,” he added, echoing the arguments of the Duterte camp.
Zabala also looked back at the Christian church’s National Rally for Peace on January 13, and reiterated their call for “peace, unity, and the need to first address the problems of our country and our countrymen, instead of moves that will only result in conflict and division.”
“Everyone knows that this is just politicking,” Zabala said on Friday. “What’s sad is that the people in charge didn’t listen to the call of the Iglesia ni Cristo.”
This is the first time the INC categorically sided with the Duterte camp in its feud with the Marcos government.
In its January 13 peace rally, the INC projected itself as nonpartisan, claiming that it “supports” the opinion of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that “opposes” the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
The INC’s stance on Friday is expected to have an implication on the candidates it will endorse in the May 12 elections.
The 2.8-million-strong church votes as a bloc every election — although analysts have questioned the impact of an INC endorsement endorsement on a national scale, given that the church tends to endorse survey front runners in the first place.
The INC had endorsed the Marcos-Duterte tandem in the 2022 polls, but the eventual fallout between the President and the Vice President placed the church in a delicate position.
The nearly 111-year-old church is known to hedge its political bets, one of the keys to its growth in a country dominated by 85.65 million Roman Catholics. – Rappler.com