(UPDATED 9:28 p.m.) Heavy rain on Sunday early evening failed to dampen the resolve of Iglesia ni Cristo members as the number of protesters at EDSA-Shaw Boulveard, EDSA-Ortigas and in between swelled to more than 10,000 early evening on Sunday, radio dzBB has reported.
Citing figures from the Eastern Police District at past 9 p.m., GMA's radio station reported that there were 7,000 protesters at the corner of EDSA and Shaw Boulevard, 4,000 at the corner of EDSA and Ortigas Avenue and 3,500 in between the two sites on both northbound and southbound lanes.
The EDSA-Ortigas area is where the Catholic Church's EDSA Shrine stands.
The crowd at both EDSA-Ortigas and EDSA-Shaw rendered both the northbound and southbound lanes of the following points on EDSA not passable:
- EDSA Ortigas
- EDSA Megamall
- Shaw underpass
- Shaw service roads
- Timog flyover.
The crowd rendered both northbound and southbound lanes at EDSA Ortigas impassable.
Some members even shouted 'walang aalis' amid the heavy downpour.
The demonstrators went under the Ortigas flyover to seek cover from the rain.
As early as late Sunday afternoon, there have been reports of Iglesia ni Cristo members blocking the southbound lane of EDSA Ortigas.
A report on "24 Oras Weekend" aired Sunday showed some members of the Iglesia ni Cristo heading to the EDSA Shrine.
Footage showed protesters had occupied half of the Ortigas flyover near the shrine, which marks the site of two popular revolutions.
The crowd initially gathered at the northbound lane near the EDSA Shrine and a mall on Friday night.
Many of the Iglesia protesters have been at EDSA-Shaw, where there is free food, portalets, and mobile phone charging stations, since Friday, a separate "24 Oras Weekend" report said.
The report noted that the permit granted by Mandaluyong City requires protesters to stay within a 1,200-sq.m. area at EDSA-Shaw but that the crowd has already spilled out from their designated area.
"Hinihiling namin ang inyong pakikipag-kooperasyon para magkaroon ng kapayapaan at panatiliin ang maintenance of peace and order dito sa pinagaganapan ng rally ng Iglesia ni Cristo," Sr. Supt. Elmer Jamias, Eastern Police District director, said in the report.
‘Respect the shrine’
In a set of guidelines issued to Catholics, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines on Sunday called for respect for the EDSA Shrine and for obedience to the law.
"The EDSA Shrine is a Catholic center of worship. It is a church. There is a Catholic priest assigned to it. We ask that all respect the sacred character of the Edsa Shrine," the CBCP said in a statement signed by its president, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas.
"Unless it is convincingly shown that a law offends moral precepts, obedience to the law is a Christian duty. Sons and daughters of the Church cannot be less observant of the law than other citizens of the Republic," it added. -NB/JST/JDS, GMA News
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