On the Iglesia ni Kristo clout
It was a lesson out of the book The Art of War by Sun Tzu (by the way, was this name for one man or as a group of Chinese generals writing under that name?). Call it ironic because no religion nor religious sect is known to be engaged in war aside from the characterization of the Holy Crusade but that was precisely how I perceived the religious activity of the Iglesia ni Kristo early this week was. The leaders of the church must be congratulated for brilliantly conceiving the plan and perfectly executing it.
That it was not politically motivated nor intended as a political statement, the leaders of the INK made it very clear at the onset. They, to calm the minds of the suspicious, declared, for all and sundry, that they have been doing that undertaking solely to deepen the spirituality of their flock. So, it was perennial and therefore, not new. It was just plain coincidence that they were enhancing their understanding of the bible publicly for the first time. Accordingly, and as I understood it, in all those previous years, they studied the bible in the solemn confines of their churches and church grounds rather than in the glare of public eyes in urban centers of functions.
At every single opportunity when media personalities tried to pry open the sacred thoughts of the leaders of the church by asking what was the activity for, the INK top men remained consistent. They deftly parried the sinister observation that they were making public their solemn tradition as a demonstration of support to the beleaguered Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona and former NBI head, Magtanggol Gatdula.
Incidentally, the speculation that the impeachment proceedings against Corona moved the INK to show their unified support was spawned by earlier reports that few thousands of their following demonstrated at the gates of the Supreme Court to prop up, however it could, the cause of the chief justice.
The repetition with which the church pronounced the non-political character of their activity led many to think that it was indeed, political. One word being enough for a wise man, it was thus quite unnecessary for the INK to keep repeating that there was no politics in their act. And because they kept repeating the purpose of their public assembly, they succeeded to dramatize a different signal. It was something like “read my lips” and after saying it was not politics, they emphasized that there was something more than what was said. This is why I claimed above that it was a lesson of Sun Tzu’s book.
What was the signal? The assembled crowd was very large. At the Quirino Grandstand, grounds and environs in Manila, police estimates placed it at more than a million while in Cebu City, it was described as something unprecedented. I lost track of the estimates in other parts of the country. Viewed collectively from a national standpoint, the number of INK followers, who sacrificed to come to specific venues were in the millions. Politically speaking, this is a very massive block of command votes.
Could the signal be directed at the politicians, including the senator-judges? Consider the initial report that the chief justice was invited to the forum but no such invitation was extended to the president of the republic. My mind could not comprehend why there was an extra effort to explain to the public that the chief justice opted not to attend yet nothing much was spoken of the failure to invite the president. I believe that it was necessary to make that explanation to emphasize the point that the activity had really had something to do with the impeachment process. It was kind of reverse psychology which Sun Tzu, in different language, advocated.
The INK message was and will certainly be, impactful on the part of the members of the senate. Of course, these honorable ladies and gentlemen in the upper chamber of our legislature said, at the start of the proceedings, and they will continue to claim that they will decide the fate of the chief justice on available evidence and in accordance with their conscience. But, will I be faulted to pause and think that the senator-judges being politicians who would use all available tools and travel to distant corners of the country to get votes, may have to consider the deeper sentiments and leanings of the vote-rich Iglesia ni Kristo in the impeachment case?
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