By Diego Morra
What the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) achieved in their rain-soaked, “surprise” rally on June 30 at the EDSA Shrine and People Power Monument in Quezon City is to prove that what is supposed to be morally just religious organization has ended up as a congregation lawyering for Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, a garrulous lawmaker who had been coaching the purported 18 ex-soldiers as witnesses to the delivery of P805-billion “commissions” from substandard or ghost flood control projects.
The INC has always cloaked its statements with verses culled from its own version of its bible, moralizing about corruption and “bending the law” in order to parrot the legalisms espoused by Marcoleta, who had time and again exposed for his ignorance of Senate rules as well as his meddling with the proceedings of committees at the Lower House top which he didn’t belong. Worse, he did not pursue the P332-billion flood control projects exposed by the late Rep. Rolando Andaya despite sitting next to him during a press briefing in which Andaya slammed then Duterte Budget Secretary Ben Diokno.
By organizing a special show for the benefit of Marcoleta right at the premises of a Roman Catholic Church, the INC destroyed any semblance of its being non-political and burned its doctrine that it never meddles with the affairs of the state as if bloc voting or compelling by INC member to vote for the choice bets of INC Central torpedoes the free will of members and the biblical admonition for believers to give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. No wonder other countries tax the INC for violating the “one man, one vote” principle. Bloc voting is political despite INC’s argument that compulsion is “pagkakaisa.”
Ostensibly, INC believes Marcoleta is being targeted for “persecution” for exposing the flood control scam and investigating who masterminded wholesale graft. Marcoleta has nothing to do with exposing the whole caboodle inasmuch as it was President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who laid bare the names of the 15 contractors who practically monopolized big flood control projects and the officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) responsible for distributing the money for senators and congressmen as “commitments” from their “allocables.” For the edification of the INC, from Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo and his wife down to the members of their Sanggunian, Marcoleta himself had P500-million in “allocables” from DPWH projects, as confirmed by the late DPWH assistant secretary Kathy Cabral.
Why is the INC, as shown by Spokesman Edwil Zabala, preaching against “bending the law” by prosecutors who are bound by law to file charges against Marcoleta for admitting, against self-interest, that he had accepted P30-million from Mike Defensor, P25-million from Joseph Espiritu and P20-million from Aristotle Viray when he was still a congressman, but never reported their names in his Statement of Contributions and Campaign Expenditures (SOCE) in 2025. The excuse: The money was given before the campaign period so the ever-gentle Comelec absolved him. But what the law giveth, the law also taketh away. Zabala, who never quite made any logical response on the political nature of INC’s previous “peace” rallies, can no longer spew arrant nonsense and lecture all Filipinos that Marcoleta should not be charged with criminal offenses while floods control grafters go scot-free.
The law is harsh and it is harsher for those who are ignorant of the law but use the pulpit to dismiss the validity of evidence against Marcoleta, who is not yet being charged for his “allocables” but for his admission, on INC’s Net 25 yet, that he received money from Defensor, Espiritu and Viray and failed to include these donations (on behalf of whom we don’t know) in Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN.) Isn’t it odd that a lawyer like Marcoleta didn’t know that he received the money as a congressman, an elected official, and by hiding this “gift” from his SALN, he became liable for indirect bribery under Art. 211 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and the predicate act of plunder under Republic Act No. 7080, Sec 1 (d) (2.) Lumusot ka sa Comelec, sunog ka naman sa Ombudsman. As a sage once noted, there is no cure for stupidity. Or would Zabala now argue that stupidity is a mitigating circumstance?
Strange as it may seem, but why did the INC walk the extra mile for Marcoleta? Is there any justification why an entire church should bet on a solitary wayward member, despite his claim to being a brilliant lawyer? One theory being bandied about is that Marcoleta is being groomed to eventually run for the presidency, and being the running mate of the impeached Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio in 2028 gives an outside chance to become vice-president. If this were the scenario, they should tell Marcoleta to keep his hair on, his trap shut, and allow the INC hierarchy to prepare him to face the crucible. The INC should stop thinking with their feet and grapple with this reality: Marcoleta’s behavior at the Lower House and the Senate has antagonized not only his colleagues but also a wide swath of the entire Philippine population. Just as the INC earned the ire of the “surprise” pro-Marcoleta rally that caused traffic jams and proved how its members think they are an entitled horde.
Ridiculous, indeed, is the INC argument that accepting private money should not be a ground for the filing of plunder charges against Marcoleta. RA 7080 is a law that imposes stiff punishments for those who profit from their positions as elected or appointed government officials. Marcoleta admitted he received the money as a “gift” before his Net 25 viewers, did not report it, and thus violated his basic duty to file his truthful SALN. Will the INC absolve him for doing this? Of course, it would, for the simple reason that this church thinks it, along with Marcoleta, are one. Which is akin to putting a halo on Marcolerta’s toupee. For throwing Defensor, Espiritu and Viray under the bus in the Comelec case and claiming the money he received was a “gift,” Marcoleta forgot that the German word “Gift” means “poison” in English. #
