CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – As thousands of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) members filled the streets of downtown Cagayan de Oro for a massive rally on Monday, January 13, Nicolas Aca, the chairman of the city government’s Historical Commission, stood alone nearby, staging a silent solo performance.

Draped in chains, red and black clothing, Aca’s quiet protest spoke volumes. It was a subtle but pointed critique of the INC’s rally, which organizers said drew over 30,000 members to Plaza Divisoria, the city’s historic commercial hub.

The renowned performance artist and activist stood near a fruit stand, a stone’s throw from the Cagayan de Oro Amphitheater, where thousands of INC members gathered for hours.

The performance, Aca said, was a commentary about how religion was being used to compel devotees to do their leaders’ wishes like they were in chains.

The INC’s so-called “peace rally” was seen by many as a calculated show of strength by the nearly three-million-member religious denomination. Although it represents a fraction of the country’s Catholic population, the century-old INC’s influence far exceeds its size, largely due to its bloc voting practice, which has made the group a powerful political force.

The nationwide rallies are viewed as a direct response to the rising calls for Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment. While framed as a rally for peace, the event carries a deeper political message from the group that has long held influence in the country’s political sphere.

Aca’s protest drew swift and heavy-handed attention from policemen. They surrounded him, gripping his shoulders to stop his performance.

“I asked them about what law I violated. They could not give me a clear answer,” Aca said. 

Police briefly held Aca in detention but released him when they realized they had nothing to pursue a complaint against him.

Aca is known in Cagayan de Oro for his politically charged and attention-catching one-man performances at major public events. A few years back, in tattered clothes and covered in mud, he pulled an empty coffin in the middle of a rally organized to protest the killing of journalists in the country.

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Human rights lawyer and former party-list representative Carlos Isagani Zarate said detaining Aca was a clear violation of his constitutional rights.

“Aca was just expressing himself. The Constitution protects his right to do so, just as it protects the INC members’ rights to express themselves during the rally,” Zarate said.

He said neither did Aca disturb the peace, and the police had no grounds to detain him longer.

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As early as Sunday, January 12, the streets of downtown Cagayan de Oro were teeming with activity as INC members started arriving in droves. Buses, vans, and private vehicles poured in from Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, and Bukidnon, carrying rally participants, said INC supervising district minister Alnorfo Jurada. 

Ian Fuentes, the city’s public information officer, said the INC had secured a permit to hold the rally from the Amphitheater to Magsaysay Park, which is across from the Jesuit-run Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. More members began arriving at Plaza Divisoria on Monday morning, many of them even before the first light of day.

The rally disrupted local government work, and several schools, including Xavier-Ateneo, suspended classes.

Mobile phone services were temporarily jammed as local authorities implemented road closures and traffic rerouting to prevent vehicular congestion in downtown Cagayan de Oro. – Rappler.com