The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Monday it will investigate statements made during the United People’s Initiative (UPI) rally at the People Power Monument in Quezon City, where several speakers called for the ouster of President Bongbong Marcos The rally, held on Sunday, featured appeals for Marcos to resign and for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to withdraw its support from the commander-in-chief.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla described the remarks as nearing the level of inciting sedition. “That’s close to inciting sedition, so we will investigate them. Those words have no place in civil society,” he said in an interview with reporters at Camp Crame in Quezon City. He added that the department will “go for truth, accountability, and justice, and go through the due process, whoever needs to be held accountable for this.”
While Remulla did not identify a specific statement from the UPI rally, Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) host Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz openly called on Marcos to resign. He also urged the AFP to withdraw its support from the president, citing the military’s withdrawal of support from former President Joseph Estrada during the 2001 EDSA revolt that led to Estrada’s ouster. “All this will end in peace, legality, and constitutionality. If the Armed Forces of the Philippines withdraw support from Marcos, that is legal. That is legitimate,” Celiz said.
Celiz added, “The Armed Forces shall be the protector of the State and the people. And the people [are] not represented by Marcos. The State is not owned by Marcos. The government is not Marcos.”
According to Remulla, the statements made during the rally defied an earlier agreement between organizers and the Quezon City local government to avoid issuing “seditious statements.” He warned that freedom of expression requires responsibility. “With the freedom of expression comes a sense of responsibility. An act of sedition is dangerous to the state,” he said. “Every citizen is accorded the right to free speech, but they must have the corresponding responsibility to behave in all civility.”
The Quezon City Police District is also examining whether the protesters’ statements constituted sedition, Director Col. Randy Silvio told reporters at the People Power Monument on Sunday evening.
The UPI rally was held simultaneously with the three-day Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) rally at Luneta Park in Manila, both calling for greater government transparency and accountability. The protests were driven by allegations of corruption in flood control and other infrastructure projects.
