MANILA, Philippines - A proclamation rally staged by evangelist Eduardo Villanueva, founder of the Jesus is Lord (JIL) Movement and presidential bet of the Bangon Pilipinas Party, disrupted Mass at the Quiapo Church yesterday.
The rally started with a motorcade from the People Power monument along EDSA to the Plaza Miranda in Quiapo.
The Manila Police District-Tactical Operations Center (MPD-TOC) said around 800 people attended the gathering that lasted from 9 a.m. until 12 noon.
Villanueva said he was surprised by the turnout.
“We were only expecting some 300 vehicles to join the motorcade but the report I got was that there were about 800 to 1,000 vehicles,” he said. The vehicles occupied two lanes of the Quezon Boulevard in front of Quiapo, leaving one lane open to vehicular traffic.
He said the large turnout shows “that while I am not topping the surveys, I am still number one, that we are winnable. I did not invite these people to come. This was spontaneous. This is a verification of the overwhelming clamor for change, a strong trumpet for enough is enough of traditional politics.”
Officials at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, commonly called as the Quiapo Church, said the noise from the rally disrupted the Mass and affected churchgoers.
At around 10 a.m., one of the church’s security guards approached the rally organizers and asked them to turn down the volume of their music and microphones because a Mass was going on.
“I have nothing against them (BPP) but they should have some respect for those who are praying…I just hope that they wound tone down the noise because there are scheduled Masses…Several people hear Mass on Saturday morning, they are mostly people who are looking for jobs and would want to pass by the church before they proceed to the companies where they are applying. Those shopping near the area and those going home to the provinces also pass by Quiapo Church,” Fr. Alvin Fullon said.
During Saturdays, three Masses would be held in the morning and another at 12:15 p.m.
He said the BPP might have gotten a permit from the Manila City Hall, but church officials were not told that there would be a proclamation rally. “It was only last Friday evening when I noticed that a stage was being put up that I learned that they would hold a program at Plaza Miranda. Plaza Miranda is a public domain,” Fullon said.
Villanueva apologized and immediately reduced the volume of their speakers.
“We did not know that there were Masses on Saturdays at Quiapo Church. Actually, we were planning to do the rally on a Sunday but out of consideration of the Sunday Masses we decided to make it a Saturday, not knowing there would also be Masses,” he added.
Villanueva was also invited to have lunch with the Church rector Monsignor Clemente Ignacio, who said that there was no problem with the BPP holding a rally outside the Church premises.
“The Monsignor said that they are already used to the Plaza Miranda as a venue for noisy events and that they only closed the main door to reduce the noise and did not mean that they were angry with the BPP,” Villanueva said.