Scanning the headlines on Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) rally at Quirino Grandstand, I noticed a curious omission. Authorities insist the gathering is religious, not political, and the coverage echoes the line.
But nowhere did I find the word that heals, the word that humbles, the word I sought with spiritual eyes: repentance. Without it, prayers rise like smoke but never reach heaven. Without it, rallies become pageants, ointments spoiled by the fly of hypocrisy.
There’s a saying that lingers like a warning whispered through history: There’s a fly in the ointment. The ointment is meant to heal, to soothe, to restore. But what happens when something small and overlooked spoils the whole?
As the INC stages its rally for Transparency and a Better Democracy, I cannot help but see the ointment— and the fly buzzing within it.
White Shirts Without Sackcloth
As I looked at those images—thousands dressed in white, filling the streets—I couldn’t help but think of purity, of unity, of a nation hoping to cleanse itself. The rally’s banner words certainly sound noble: transparency, democracy, accountability.
But as those thoughts settled, another image rose from Scripture: the call to sackcloth and ashes—those old symbols of humility, confession, and broken hearts laid bare before God.
It brought me back to Jeremiah’s time, when Judah was drowning in idolatry, injustice, and corruption. God’s invitation was strikingly tender:
“Return, faithless Israel… I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful.” (Jeremiah 3:12)
Many resisted, of course, but the prophetic voice kept pressing for national repentance. That has always been the rhythm of God’s dealings with His people—justice that never stands alone, always joined by His longing for their return.
And that’s what made the present scene feel oddly incomplete. Here, the crowd wears white, yet no confessions rise from the ground. The rally becomes a kind of pageant of purity, but without the substance of repentance. It’s like displaying a jar of fragrant ointment while quietly ignoring the small fly floating inside—unseen, but spoiling the scent all the same.
Which leads to the uneasy question: How can the Iglesia Ni Cristo—claiming to be a Christian church—call for transparency while refusing to confront its own complicity through repentance?
Finger-pointing and Three Fingers Back
Reading the rally’s slogans, I noticed how easily blame is cast outward—toward government corruption, toward projects gone wrong. Yet I could not forget INC’s own history.
In 2016, INC officially endorsed Rodrigo Duterte, the man who mocked God and whose presidency became a theater of violence and corruption. In 2022, INC threw its weight behind the UniTeam of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte.
These were not neutral choices but Faustian bargains, aligning with leaders now at the crux of the corruption malaise.
Storms as Divine Mirror
As I reflected on the recent typhoons, floods, and earthquakes, I could not help but see them as mirrors. Nature itself seems to expose the rot of governance, tearing away the veneer of power. The disasters are not only calamities but providential reminders: corruption has consequences, and storms reveal what slogans cannot hide.
Our leaders, providentially, have been unmasked by storms: super typhoons tearing roofs from homes, floods drowning cities, earthquakes shaking foundations. Nature itself has become a mirror, reflecting the corruption that festers in the nation’s halls of power.
Scripture and Providence
In my reading, Romans 13:1-2 echoed like a sober refrain in the background:
“Let every person be subordinated to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.”
It’s a difficult passage—one that forces us to wrestle with the uncomfortable truth that leadership—even flawed leadership—can be part of God’s mysterious design.
Scripture itself doesn’t shy away from this tension. In 2 Kings 17:20, we’re told that God “punished [His people] by delivering them to their attackers.” John Calvin sharpened the point even more.
Cardinal Sin affirmed that very line of thought, holding up Marcos Sr. and the dark years of Martial Law as Exhibit A. And if that principle still stands, perhaps we must confront the sobering possibility that God has allowed the Philippines to be chastened again through the leaders we have today.
Whether Duterte or Marcos, their rise is not mere accident. They may well be instruments of divine providence—sometimes to bless, sometimes to discipline. And so, this old saying by Thomas Jefferson hits harder than we like to admit.
The Missing Ingredient: Repentance
This is why, as I read the rally’s declarations, I kept waiting for one word to surface—repentance. But it never did. An anti-corruption rally without repentance feels like a prayer without confession: words reaching for heaven but never touching the heart. Transparency must begin in humility, not performance. Without repentance, the ointment remains spoiled no matter how brightly we parade it.
From Flies to Healing
So where does that leave us? What stance should the people take amid this tangled dilemma? Certainly not selective outrage, and not rallies that point outward while refusing to look inward.
The real path forward is repentance—both personal and communal. Only when we acknowledge our own sins, our compromises, our quiet accommodations with power, can transparency and democracy rise from mere slogans to lived realities.
And that brings me back to the fly in the ointment. It must be named. it must be confessed: “Nabudol ako. I voted for Marcos and Duterte.” Only then can the ointment heal. Only then can we hope for God to give us leaders in the future who are not curses but blessings.
Perhaps if repentance begins not in grandstands but within hearts—if sackcloth and ashes take the place of hollow white shirts; if storms are understood not merely as disasters but as divine mirrors—then, maybe, the government we deserve may one day resemble the government we truly need.
Content and editing put together in collaboration with Bing Microsoft AI-powered Co-pilot
Head collage photos courtesy of Inquirer, Philippine News, ABS-CBN, Global Times, The Atlantic, & istock; design by Canva
Still Photos courtesy of NPR, Freepik, Pinterest, iStock, & Stocksnap.io
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