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Last Monday, October 14, 2013, the Iglesia ni Cristo
(INC) held a huge medical mission in several places in Manila City. The
organizers announced that they expect to gather about 1.5 million people from
many places in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces. In anticipation of the
huge traffic, Manila Mayor Erap Estrada suspended all classes from all levels in the city.
Other cities in the metropolis also suspended classes up to high school as long
convoys of vehicles from many places will be passing by their cities on their
way to Manila.
This incident has angered many Filipinos, especially the
non-Iglesia members. Hundreds of thousands of students from pre-school to
tertiary were deprived of one day of schooling. Those with official and
personal trips to and around Manila City suffered super heavy traffic, which
started at dawn that day. Many people started queuing at designated places at
dawn and hence, travelled to the place at midnight and early morning the
previous day. The big volume of buses and jeepneys that ferried the people from
different cities and provinces parked at no parking areas, further worsening an
already bad traffic situation.
A friend, Dr. Bong Mendoza of the UP Political Science
Department, commented in his facebook wall that “Religious freedom is not the freedom to inconvenience the metropolis. And
complaining about the inconvenience is not a violation of religious freedom.”
I agree with Bong’s assessment. Freedom without
responsibility is stupidity or dictatorship. If the INC officials and members
can practice religious freedom, other people also have freedom of mobility, freedom of education, freedom of commerce and
so on. These various freedoms should not be trumped and sacrificed in advancing
other people’s religious freedom.
An Iglesia member reacted to Bong’s comment, said that
there is a need “to uphold the core value of humanity which is respect.”
I replied to this guy and asked if the INC also respected
the right to mobility of other people? No. The INC threw its weight around.
They have INC hospitals, churches, schools and so on where they can conduct
such medical mission, daily if they want. Luneta and other big open spaces are
also alternative venues. Not a bit, INC chose the heavily congested places of
Manila, on a weekday.
If the INC wanted respect and understanding from the inconvenienced public, they should have anticipated those problems as it is not the first or second time that their big gatherings cause heavy traffic congestions and trip delays for many other people.
If the INC wanted respect and understanding from the inconvenienced public, they should have anticipated those problems as it is not the first or second time that their big gatherings cause heavy traffic congestions and trip delays for many other people.
The INC guy replied that “there was no intent to disrespect anyone in the outreach. The argument
of respect begets respect clearly does not apply. Why on a Monday? Because
Weekends are our days of worship as well as Wed and Thursday…. INC helped
thousands of families in Manila. I hope that while you contemplate on the
inconvenience, you also realize the medical and relief help we have extended to
these families.”
The alibi does not hold water. When you bring a million
people or more in a small piece of land like Manila City in one day, the
freedom of mobility of other people is immediately disrespected. The Supreme
Court, Court of Appeals, lower courts in Manila have all suspended proceedings
by afternoon of that day. Classes were suspended whole day. Religious and
humanitarian freedom by INC has trumped all other freedoms -- freedom of fair
court trial, freedom of education, freedom of mobility, freedom of commerce, others
-- these were all rendered secondary or unnecessary that day.
Other INC members may feel that they are being
discriminated against because such "rants" are not heard when the
Catholics also hold religious-related activities like the Feast of Nazarene and
Christmas holidays, where heavy traffic congestion is also experienced.
This is not a valid observation. The Catholic Nazarene Feast
and its heavy traffic is confined around Quiapo area only and does not affect
the outer rings and streets of Manila City, and definitely does not affect
other neighboring cities. The Christmas season is feast and business season.
Even atheists and agnostics enjoy the holidays, there are many reunions,
partying, perhaps 99 percent of which are not related to religion.
The various city governments in Metro Manila M are also to
blame for suspending classes. It is not a far out possibility that there is
implicit pressure from INC that if those Mayors do not close schools in their
areas, the INC may not support them in the 2016 elections. Many local and
national politicians are afraid to antagonize a solid-voting INC bloc.
But even if the other city governments did not close schools that day, the fact that INC brought hundreds of thousands of its followers from northern, central and southern Luzon to Manila City, on a weekday, is already bad. INC has thrown its political weight around.
But even if the other city governments did not close schools that day, the fact that INC brought hundreds of thousands of its followers from northern, central and southern Luzon to Manila City, on a weekday, is already bad. INC has thrown its political weight around.
This should be another warning signal for the rest of
Philippine electorates. A big religious bloc can throw its weight around and
cause huge public inconvenience for one day or more, when its purported goal, to conduct medical mission, can be done
in other venues, or be phased into several days on smaller venues.
The medical mission was a political mission with a clear
political statement. The inconvenienced public should also send a political
statement to them: religious freedom cannot and should not undermine other
individual freedoms. There are other ways so that any potential conflict
between the two can be avoided, but the
INC leadership opted to highlight its own political statement.
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See also:
Rule of Law 18: Damaso and Carlos Celdran Conviction, February 01, 2013
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