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The spokesperson of the politically influential religious group Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) on Saturday apologized for the inconvenience caused by the group’s mass action, but added they had no choice but to do it in order to get their message across to the Aquino government.
“We apologize, we really do. We did not want to do this, we did not want to go out into the streets and take this long in order to make our message across to the people who should be hearing us. But we are exercising a constitutionally protected right, exercised by so many before us the same way that we gave those people our understanding,” said INC spokesperson Edwil Zabala in an interview on EDSA-Shaw Boulevard, the site of the INC protest.
Zabala said the INC merely wanted to send a message to authorities who the INC believes took ”shortcuts” in the illegal detention case filed by expelled INC Minister Isaias Samson, Jr. against the INC leadership.
“We hope that the public will give us the same kind of understanding. We assure you, we’re not gonna do this permanently. This is not going to be permanent,” Zabala said.
He added: “We hope that it ends here. We hope that the message gets across very clearly to the people who should have heard us from the beginning when we were not yet in the streets. We were trying to talk to them, we were trying to point out through the system that there was something wrong, that they were short-cutting it. If they had listened then, we would not have gone out into the streets, we would not have been in Padre Faura, we would not have been here tonight, if only they listened to us at the very beginning.”
WATCH: THE INC PROTEST THAT INCONVENIENCED THE METRO
On Thursday, thousands of INC members gathered in front of the Department of Justice (DOJ) compound in Manila to protest the supposed “extraordinary attention” being given by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to the illegal detention charges filed by expelled INC minister Isaias Samson Jr. and his family against INC leaders.
The members of the INC, which is known for its bloc-voting practice, invoked the separation of state and church in demanding that De Lima not meddle in the affairs of INC. They accused De Lima of “selective justice”.
By Friday, INC members moved from Padre Faura Street in Manila to a mall along EDSA. As of posting, the INC faithful were at the intersection of EDSA and Shaw Boulevard.
The protest caused massive traffic in Metro Manila on Friday night.
Zabala also clarified that the INC is not asking the DOJ to stop its investigation into the allegations of Samson and his family. He appealed for the DOJ to “follow the rules.”
“Follow the rules. Don’t shortcut it. We do have rights, the same way others have rights. Not to use the process in order to discriminate against Iglesia Ni Cristo, to push through with whatever plans they have not just against us but against others,” Zabala said.
Zabala confirmed that the INC was able to secure a permit from the Mandaluyong City government to hold a protest until Sunday. He, however, hinted that the mass action could last beyond Sunday.
“I cannot say until when. All I can say is we do have a permit beyond today. Not just tonight, for tomorrow, I won’t be able to say for the record until when,” he said.
Asked if the mass action could last beyond Sunday, he said, “I don’t want to preempt.”
Text: Jobert Navallo, ABS-CBN News
Photo: Dennis Datu, dzMM
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
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