Normalcy returning to Metro after Iglesia rally — Mar Roxas

Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II. AP FILE PHOTO

Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said the Philippine National Police and all concerned government agencies were working to bring back normalcy after the recently concluded Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) protest paralyzed traffic on major thoroughfares in Metro Manila.

“Ngayong umaga ay inanunsyo ng Iglesia ni Cristo ang pagtatapos ng kanilang kilos-protesta sa EDSA at nagsimula na silang magsiuwian. Pinagsisikapan na ng PNP at ng iba pang ahensiya ng gobyerno ang pagbabalik sa normal ng ating mga daanan sa lalong madaling panahon,” Roxas said in a statement on Monday.

The Secretary also confirmed that the government had been “quietly negotiating” with the leaders of the influential religious sect in the past days. He said the meeting served as a venue to “clarify issues.”

“Nitong mga nakaraang araw ay tahimik na nakipag-ugnayan ang pamahalaan sa mga lider ng INC. Naging pagkakataon ito upang magkaroon ng paglilinaw ukol sa mga isyu,” he said.

Roxas earned praises from netizens after he made a statement against the inconvenience the INC protests caused the public, saying exercising one’s right “[should] not impinge on the rights of others.”

The secretary said it had been important for everyone to remain calm as there were individuals who wanted to take advantage of the protest for their personal gains.

“There were many who wanted to exploit the protest for their personal ends, mahalagang naging mahinahon ang lahat para maiwasang may masaktan kung magkaroon ng kaguluhan,” he said.

It was earlier announced that Roxas would meet city and police officials at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame but it was cancelled after the INC ended their nationwide protests that started last August 27, Thursday.

The protest was sparked by a criminal charge filed by an expelled minister before the Department of Justice against eight ministers of INC. Angry INC supporters then demanded that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima resign for supposedly meddling in the internal affairs of their organization, calling for a separation of church and state.

On Sunday night, President Benigno Aquino III met with his cabinet secretaries in his official residence at Bahay Pangarap. In attendance were Roxas, De Lima, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman.

He thanked the officials of PNP, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, city and village officials for their effort to maintain peace and order amid the four-day protest in Manila and Mandaluyong cities. “Nagpapasalamat tayo sa mga kawani ng PNP, MMDA, sa local at barangay officials sa kanilang pakikipagtulungan sa gitna ng pagod, malakas na ulan at matinding init para manatili ang kaayusan,” he said. Julliane Love de Jesus/CB

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