MANILA, Philippines—It won’t be as big as the mass actions usually held in Manila’s Liwasang Bonifacio or Makati’s central business district.

But the Department of Education (DepEd) office in Zamboanga Sibugay is confident that the interfaith rally it plans to hold shortly in Ipil, the provincial capital, would produce “positive results.”

At least 4,000 people from different faiths, including Christians and Muslims, are “expected to take part in the prayer rally. They will join DepEd personnel in appealing for the release of the kidnapped teachers,” said Grace Jugno, DepEd-Zamboanga Sibugay administrative officer.

The public school teachers—Jocelyn Enriquez, Jocelyn Inion and Noime Mandi—were abducted 114 days ago by bandits off the nearby coastal municipality of Naga.

They were on board a motorized boat en route from Bangkaw Bangkaw Elementary School to the Naga town proper on March 13 when armed men blocked their boat and seized them.

The kidnappers demanded P10 million for their release.

Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus has expressed full support for the planned mass action.

“To pray and plead for the release of our kidnapped teachers is, under the circumstances, our DepEd family’s only means to help them,” Lapus told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Saturday.

Lapus noted that the DepEd’s Sagip Guro Movement “also calls for prayers during flag ceremonies in elementary and high schools nationwide.”

According to Lapus, they “continue to call for the release of our teachers. We are working with the Zamboanga Sibugay crisis management committee, led by Gov. George Hofer, who are doing their best to ensure the safe release of the kidnapped teachers ... We are waiting for news from them.”

In a statement, Lapus said they were “deeply concerned for the safety of our teachers. In taking them, the children under their care are deprived of the education they so rightfully deserve.”