MANILA, Philippines--(UPDATE) President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo heard mass shortly before midnight on Friday amid what a Catholic bishop and a non-government organization described as a "destabilization" plot.

"We support you, the President, in the middle of this destabilization plot," Lucena Bishop Emilio Marquez said shortly before he gave his final blessing.

Marquez said it was "not true" that calls from Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Angel Lagdameo for a new government reflected the stand of the group.

The group "Mahal Ko, Bayan Ko" (I Love My Country) organized the mass, with the theme "unity, peace, and solidarity." The group's founding chair, Evelyn Kolayko, said she received a text message calling on the public to fight a "destabilization" attempt by the left, and former house speaker Jose de Venecia.

Arroyo, wearing a blue pantsuit, was seated in the front row.

Among those seen hearing mass with the President were Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez and Pangasinan Representative Rachel Arenas, and Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez.