DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/12 January) — Event organizers installed on Sunday LED billboards and other materials, including “Protect Sara” posters for Monday’s “National Rally for Peace” of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) at the San Pedro Square.
INC regional legal officer Eranio “Bong” Estudillo said they had planned the rally as early as December 2024, and they expect to gather around 500,000 members from their 12 districts in Regions 11 (Davao) and 12 (Soccsksargen), including some from Bukidnon province.
An INC district comprises several local congregations or churches in a geographic area.
City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) head Dionisio Abude said on Wednesday they are installing more or less 20 billboards across all closed roads to allow participants a close-up view of the rally speakers on stage.
The Davao City Council approved last Tuesday City Ordinance No. 0735- 25, providing for the partial closure of the following streets starting at 9 p.m. on January 11 in preparation for the INC rally: San Pedro, C.M. Recto (commonly known as Claveria), Pelayo (commonly known as Legaspi), A. Inigo (commonly known as Anda), C. Bangoy (commonly known as Magallanes), Rizal, Bonifacio, Palma Gil, Bolton, and City Hall Drive.
On Monday, these streets will be fully closed to traffic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
An INC volunteer monitoring his co-religious sectors’ arrival told MindaNews they are “ready to go” as they prepared for this since early December.
“Basta mao among gusto, I volunteer because this is what we stand for, we are for peace,” he said.
“Protektahan si VP Sara Duterte”
Posters bearing the message “Para Sa Bayan… Protektahan Si VP Sara Duterte” (For the Country — Protect VP Sara Duterte) were being installed when MindaNews checked the venue at around 4:30 p.m.
Three impeachment complaints have been filed against VP Duterte in the House of Representatives for alleged culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, bribery and other high crimes for the alleged misuse of confidential funds as Vice President and as Education Secretary.
INC members have not converged at the area as of 4:30 p.m. Sunday. In the last prayer rally of the INC in Davao City on August 31, 2015, hundreds of members occupied the sidewalks near the Hall of Justice, venue of their rally then, the night before.
Estudillo said the rally will push through with or without a permit.
Harvey Lanticse, OIC of the City Information Office, as of 4:30 p.m., has not responded to MindaNews’ query whether or not INC has secured a permit for the rally.
The City Information Office reported that the city government will deploy 5,000 personnel from the Public Safety and Security Office (PSSO), the City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO), and the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) for the INC rally.
The CTTMO will deploy 400 traffic enforcers, Abude said during a press conference at Royal Mandaya Hotel last Wednesday.
Same venue
The venue for the INC rally is the same venue where former President Rodrigo Duterte declared during a rally of “Hakbang ng Maisug” on January 28 last year, that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is “bangag” (drug addict) with a “hungry for power” wife. He warned Marcos would suffer the fate of his father who was ousted by People Power in February 1986, if he does not stop his wife Liza and Speaker Martin Romualdez whom he alleges to be behind the buying of signatures for a “People’s Initiative” to amend the 1987 Constitution.
San Pedro Square was also the venue for the inauguration of Sara Duterte as Vice President on June 19, 2022.
Estudillo estimated 500,000 participants will attend the rally. If the participants reach that number, the venue cannot accommodate all of them.
According to Mapchecking.com, a site MindaNews uses to estimate crowds in a given venue, the entire stretch of San Pedro – from Boulevard to Quirino Avenue– can accommodate around 14.5k at one person per sqm, if it is not too densely populated. Crowded, at two persons per sqm, San Pedro can hold around 29,000. Packed at four persons per sqm, the street can accommodate around 58,300 at a time.
Congress resumes sessions; election period begins
The election periods started January 12 and will end on June 11. Within this period, the election gun ban is implemented. Only bona fide police, military, and members of government law enforcement agencies in complete uniform and on official duty are permitted to bear firearms during this period.
Individuals not included in the executive list of exemptions must apply for a certificate of authority from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to be allowed to carry firearms.
Without this certificate, carrying firearms outside of residences or places of business is prohibited.
The two houses of Congress are supposed to resume sessions on Monday, January 13, after the holiday break. The Senate will not resume on Monday because Malacanang has suspended classes and work in government offices in Manila and Pasay on that day. The House of Representatives is in Quezon City. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
