PNP: Ready for rallies; Lacson: Stay angry, but not violent
Church leaders have opposed calls to install a military junta or revolutionary government amid the protest actions to denounce corruption in flood control projects.
The Catholic Church will lead today’s (Nov. 23, 2025) nationwide protest that coincides with the 100th-year commemoration of the Feast of Christ the King and is part of the build-up toward the Nov. 30 Trillion Peso March Movement at the People Power Monument.
“Some want to twist our anger into chaos. We won’t let them,” said Msgr. Manny Gabriel of the Clergy for Good Governance.
“No extra-constitutional means, no to a revolutionary government, no to a military junta, no to selective justice. Yes to prosecuting all the guilty forthwith. We choose truth over spectacle, institutions over personalities,” he added.
Fr. Robert Reyes, convener of the Clergy for Good Governance, said priests have been mandated to celebrate Masses in honor of Christ the King, integrating current societal and political issues into the theme.
The gathering will take place at the EDSA Shrine, beginning with a short procession at 2 p.m., followed by a mass led by Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David at 4 p.m.
“Aside from expressing anger and hatred in the streets, it should be coupled with prayers,” John Castriciones of the Catholic Advocates for a Responsible Electorate (CARE) said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, for his part, said public anger over irregular government contracts “should not lessen” but also cautioned protesters against resorting to violence.
“I don’t want public outrage to lessen, so long as people remain non-violent. If public anger diminishes, the government might slacken their efforts,” he said in a radio interview.
“No matter how long it takes, (we need to) get to the bottom (of the irregularities) to achieve the logical conclusion,” Lacson added.
He noted that the release of the arrest warrants against resigned Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co and 17 others in connection with a questionable P289 million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro should cause some critics to “eat their words” that Co is “untouchable.”
As this developed, the National Capital Region Police Office said it will implement extensive security measures for the 2nd Trillion Peso March scheduled on Nov. 30, aiming to ensure public safety and maintain order throughout the event.
These preparations stemmed from the lessons learned from the violent incidents at Ayala Bridge and Mendiola during the initial protest rally on September 21, the NCRPO said.
NCRPO Director Maj. Gen. Anthony Aberin assured the public that police presence is intended not to suppress the rally but to safeguard the safety of participants, commuters, and bystanders.
“We fully respect everyone’s rights to freedom of speech, of expression, and of peaceful assembly. In exercising these rights, we urge everyone to act with responsibility, discipline, and vigilance. Let us work together to keep Metro Manila safe, orderly, and peaceful for all,” he said.
The Makabayan coalition said part of the preparation is the drafting of a program for the formation of a transitional council should President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte be removed from office.
Makabayan president Liza Maza said the proposed council would have representation from the “democratic sector” of society to include marginalized sections such as workers, farmers and indigenous peoples.
“The transition council would have the power to hold the corrupt accountable…to investigate and to set policy outside Congress. In fact, it could suspend Congress because almost all lawmakers are involved in the plunder,” Maza said.
