Philippines: Religious Groups Stage Opposing Rallies Ahead Of 2025 Midterm Polls

By Camille Elemia

Different religious denominations in the Philippines usually stage political rallies in the run-up to national polls, but such demonstrations this year are gathering steam ahead of mid-term elections amid a now-open public feud between the country’s top two leaders. 

Religious groups from Catholic and Christian persuasions have been flexing their political muscles ahead of the May 12 polls through holding opposing rallies, including one rally that drew 1 million people earlier this month.

However, analysts interviewed by BenarNews questioned whether faith-based rallies could sway voters, given recent elections where endorsements of religious groups had limited impact. These demonstrations show the complex interplay between religion and politics in the Philippines, where Christian denominations vie for influence in this predominantly Catholic nation. 

Already this year indigenous churches Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) and Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) held separate rallies for Vice President Sara Duterte, who is facing impeachment complaints over her use of confidential funds and her alleged threat of assassination against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church, joined by evangelical and civil society groups, is set to hold a rally against both Duterte and Marcos next week.

Analysts differ on whether the focus by church groups on secular government through a series of rallies can bring the religious outcomes they seek.

“These rallies are a show of force,” political analyst Jean Franco from the University of the Philippines told BenarNews. “This is especially true for the INC, which was implicated in the drug war of formerPresident Rodrigo Duterte during House hearings.”

The mobilization of INC is an “obvious statement of position that they are still supporting the vice president for the 2028 [presidential] elections,” said Erron Medina, a development studies instructor focusing on religion at Ateneo de Manila University.

INC spokesperson Edwil Zabala spoke to reporters about a rally that drew about 1 million people on Jan. 13.

“I understand that some would think this is political but it’s not. As far as we’re concerned, it’s not. It’s something moral,” Zabala said in an interview.

The INC is the country’s second largest Christian denomination, trailing the Catholic Church whose members total about 80% of the nation’s 115 million people. The KOJC is headed by Duterte family friend Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who was arrested in southern Davao city in September 2024 on sexual abuse charges in the U.S. and the Philippines.

The rift between the Marcos and Duterte families began during the second half of 2024 as the government faced growing pressure to allow an international investigation into former President Duterte’s drug war, which left thousands dead. 

The House of Representatives then opened an investigation into the alleged budgetary misuse by Sara Duterte’s office in her roles as vice president and education secretary – a cabinet post she held under Marcos until she quit in June.

‘This will start the tipping point’

Next week, 12 Catholic and three Evangelical bishops are to be joined by 230 priests and 54 civil society groups at an “indignation rally” against Duterte and Marcos, particularly focusing on the administration’s $108.2 billion national budget. Earlier, 10 Catholic priests celebrated Mass at the historic EDSA Shrine to launch a movement to impeach Sara Duterte.

The challenge for the inter-faith rally on Jan. 31 is to “seriously distinguish its agenda” from that of the INC, Medina said.

“Credible religious positioning in politics should be balanced with their original task – to engage in discussions of public morals while calling out political wrongdoing and not actually taking part in the political game,” Medina said in a text message Tuesday.

Melba Maggay, a social anthropologist and president of the Manila-based Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture, said the rally would be the first time that faith-based and civil society groups come together to protest.

“Churches are usually allergic to direct political involvement, but this is something new. I feel this will start the tipping point,” Maggay, who plans to join the rally, told BenarNews on Tuesday. “The masses are getting angry at the injustices and corruption in government.”

The rallies are taking place ahead of the May 12 elections when Filipinos will vote for all House and half the Senate seats along with local offices.

Will it be effective?

The once influential Catholic Church has failed to convince voters to choose Church-endorsed candidates.

In the 2022 general election, more than 1,200 Catholic clergy endorsed then-Vice President Leni Robredo and running mate Francis Pangilinan for president and vice president, but it had little to no impact on the vote as Marcos and Duterte overwhelmingly won.

Noel Asiones, an academic researcher from a Catholic university in Manila, said the results of the 2016 and 2022 presidential elections had shown that the Catholic Church could not sway polls.

“I am now very convinced that the church has zero influence on how Catholic voters choose their candidates. Unlike the INC, there is no Catholic vote in the country. The elections of Duterte and Marcos and their minions blew a big hole in whatever illusion there was for a Catholic vote to become a reality,” Asiones told BenarNews in an email.

Analyst Franco, meanwhile, said even though the INC was known for its bloc voting, its power could be an illusion.

“The INC vote can be crucial in tight local races. But in the national elections, not so much. They are only around 1.5% or 2% of the total population,” Franco said.

Many evangelical groups have become active in politics and some are more assertive than the traditionally influential Catholic Church. Some of these evangelical groups have members in the Senate and House of Representatives who oppose policies including proposals ondivorce and gender equality.

Among those are Sen. Joel Villanueva and his father, Brother Eddie Villanueva, a member of the House who founded Jesus is Lord Church Worldwide. In addition, Rep. Benny Abante, who represents a House district in Manila, is a Baptist minister.

For Maggay, the religious scholar and anthropologist, these evangelical groups “were made in the image of the American Bible Belt,” when missionaries constructed schools in the Philippines during the U.S. colonization of the Philippines. 

These groups are similar, she said, to the religious right which supports Donald Trump, the newly installed American president.

“These beliefs were exported from America to the Philippines, including the entry into politics and fundamentalism,” she said. “But the church’s political role is not primarily to put Christians into office or even to insert its own interests into political space as a power bloc.”