“This rally, for all its sanctimonious trappings, is no moral crusade”
The stage is being set once more for another smoke and mirrors show.
From Nov. 16 to 18, Luneta Park will be filled by the so-called “accountability rally” organized by the Iglesia ni Cristo, now joined by the Kingdom of Jesus Christ led by Apollo Quiboloy and, not surprisingly, the Jesus Is Lord movement of Bro. Eddie Villanueva.
The organizers claim the event is all about transparency and good governance. The logistics—and the timing—suggest something else entirely.
If this were a genuine civic call for accountability, its organizers could have simply joined the broader Nov. 30 rally on the same theme.
Instead, they’ve chosen a three-day marathon, echoing the choreography of EDSA I and II: prolonged demonstrations followed by a dramatic “withdrawal of support” from the military.
Reports have already surfaced that emissaries are testing the waters with both retired and active generals.
A similar attempt fizzled out last September when the Armed Forces chief refused to play along, but the script remains the same.
Inside the Senate, a parallel subplot is unfolding.
Whispers of an impending power shift suggest the possible return of figures linked to the old order.
One name keeps surfacing—Rodante Marcoleta—along with rumors of a new Blue Ribbon “star witness” ready to implicate President Marcos Jr.
The objective seems transparent: to manufacture the image of a collapsing administration just in time for the Luneta spectacle.
The slogan is said to be ready: “Step down, Marcos. Install Sara.”
But timing is everything.
The rally comes just as the Independent Commission for Infrastructure has referred two major plunder and graft cases to the Ombudsman.
The Department of Justice and National Bureau of Investigation are finalizing airtight documentation.
The Ombudsman is preparing non-bailable charges, the Anti-Money Laundering Council has frozen billions in suspicious assets, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue has filed tax-evasion cases against contractors whose declared incomes cannot explain their wealth.
The machinery of justice, long idle, is suddenly alive—and those caught in its gears are fighting back.
This rally, for all its sanctimonious trappings, is no moral crusade.
It is a counteroffensive, an effort to turn legitimate investigation into alleged persecution, to deflect public outrage from the accused toward the accusers.
Faith is being wielded as armor, and moral outrage deployed as camouflage. The pattern is unmistakable: when subpoenas are served, rallies appear.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s inspection of the new Quezon City Jail Male Dormitory in Payatas was not, as some believe, a courtesy visit. The facility lies a short drive from the Sandiganbayan, where the cases will be tried.
When arrest warrants are issued, the transfers will be swift. The logistics, like the protests, are in place.
As for coup talk, it remains mostly the chatter of lower-ranking officers.
Senior officers—many of whom have trained in US defense schools—know too well the cost of instability.
They understand geopolitics and the peril of returning influence to a faction openly aligned with Beijing.
At best, the current grumbling is a rehearsal, not a rebellion.
The greater threat lies not in a coup but in confusion.
The orchestrated noise of “accountability” threatens to obscure the truth: this is the first administration in years to allow the country’s anti-graft institutions to operate without political meddling.
The coordination among the ICI, DOJ, NBI, Ombudsman, AMLC, and BIR is unprecedented. The system, for once, is working, which is precisely why it is now under siege.
Justice does not march in the streets.
It moves quietly, methodically, on paper and in courtrooms.
As the chants of “morality” and “freedom” echo through Luneta, the real reckoning is already underway.
And when the same names demanding accountability start appearing not in press releases but in charge sheets, the irony will be complete.
When the rented buses leave and the stage lights fade, what will remain are the white shirts—not symbols of purity, but reminders of what desperation looks like when the majesty of the law overturns outright lies. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
