January 16, 2025 | 6:11pm
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential legal counsel Juan Ponce Enrile has warned against following the logic of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) after the religious group staged a rally supporting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s opposition to Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment.
Enrile, a veteran lawmaker and former Senate president, questioned whether the INC believed it could override constitutional processes, such as impeachment, as an influential group.
“Are we prepared to discard or sacrifice the value of rule of law for a person or a group of persons? Impeachment is just a constitutional legal process to remove a government official from his office if there is a ground and evidence to support it,” Enrile wrote in a Facebook post.
He noted that impeachment does not result in jail time for the official involved. The mechanism removes officials from position based on evidence and legal grounds.
“As a nation and a state, we will incur a very detrimental precedent if we follow the logic implicit in the INC rally that they mounted. Are we prepared and ready to face the long-term consequences of that INC move?” he added.
The INC rally, which amassed nearly 2 million participants, called for unity and peace.
For Edwin Zabala, the church spokesperson, “conflict” will distract the country from other things “that must be attended to.”
INC leadership, however, has been hesitant to confirm whether the rally was in support of any specific official, insisting that it was not political.
Despite this, Duterte thanked the INC for organizing the event.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, meanwhile, responded to Enrile saying that Marcos respects the veteran lawmaker’s position, but his stance remains unchanged.
“In this way policymaking is enriched by diverse views resulting in decisions distilled from a wealth of varied experiences, different disciplines, and special expertise of those who contribute. It is in this spirit that Secretary Enrile came forward with his views. While his thoughts may carry weight and are always valued, his is one of many that the President seriously considers,” Bersamin said.
“Nonetheless, the President’s stand on the issue concerned remains unchanged,” Bersamin added.
Marcos previously admitted to asking members of the House of Representatives to refrain from filing impeachment cases.
Despite this, Vice President Duterte already faces three impeachment complaints stemming from allegations of mismanagement of funds in the Office of the Vice President.
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