DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 07 January) – Major roads in the city’s downtown district will be closed to traffic next Monday, January 13, to give way for Iglesia Ni Cristo’s (INC) “National Rally for Peace,” which organizers expect to attract tens of thousands of participants and may cause heavy traffic in the vicinity and nearby areas.
The city council approved the road closures under suspended rules Tuesday morning, January 7, in anticipation of the sect’s huge rally next week.
Based on the ordinance, the streets of San Pedro, C.M. Recto (also known as Claveria), Pelayo (commonly known as Legazpi), A. Inigo (commonly known as Anda) , C. Bangoy (commonly known as Magallanes) , Rizal, Bonifacio, Palma Gil, Bolton, and City Hall Drive will be partially closed to traffic starting at 9 p.m. on January 11 in preparation for the group’s rally.
On January 13, the aforementioned streets will be fully closed to traffic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In addition, the Davao City Coastal Road – from Tulip Drive to Bago Aplaya – will also be partially closed to traffic the whole day of January 13.
Dionisio Abude, City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) head, said during the deliberations of the ordinance that they will be releasing official announcements of the re-routings during the road closures as soon as possible.
Bong Estudillo, INC regional legal officer, said they expect around 500,000 members from their 12 districts in Regions 11 (Davao) and 12 (Soccsksargen) to participate in the rally, including some from Bukidnon province.
For INC, a district is composed of multiple local congregations or churches, which defines a geographic area.
“Ang binigay namin sa (Public Safety and Security Office [PSSO]), 500,000 participants ang pupunta rito, kaya lang pinababawasan nila ng 200,000, hindi na raw kasi magkasya sa kalsada yung request namin… so 300,000 lang ang tao,” Estudillo said.
(The number of participants that we gave to the (Public Safety and Security Office [PSSO]) was 500,000. However, they asked us to reduce it by 200,000 because the roads could not accommodate that many people … so only 300,000 people would attend.)
Estudillo noted that the rally is their response to the call of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. not to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte, “as the country has “many pressing problems waiting to be prioritized.”
Despite the president’s call, at least three impeachment complaints were filed against Duterte before the House of Representatives.
Estudillo said that they were already prepared as early as December 2024 to conduct their national peace rally.
But as of January 7, the INC is still applying for a permit to rally here, Estudillo said.
When asked by the councilors if the road closures will affect vehicular traffic, Abude said that Dabawenyos “are used to these closures” since the aforementioned roads are usually closed during big city events, such as the Araw ng Dabaw and the Kadayawan Festival.
Abude said that vehicles will not be allowed to pass and park in the roads that will be fully closed on January 13 for security concerns.
According to the 2020 census of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the INC has 2,806,524 members across the country.
For Mindanao, Estudillo said that aside from Davao City, their national peace rallies will also be held in Butuan City in Agusan del Norte, Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental, and Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
