Enrile: 'Very detrimental' precedent if INC logic on impeachment followed

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile warned that the country could face a "very detrimental" precedent if the logic implied during the Iglesia Ni Cristo's National Rally for Peace will be followed.

"As a nation and a state, we will incur a very detrimental precedent if we follow the logic implicit in the INC rally that they mounted. Are we prepared and ready to face the long term consequences of that INC move?" Enrile said in a Facebook post.

Enrile, who is tasked to advise President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on legal matters, also posed the following questions: "Can the INC with all its members amend the Constitution or suspend any of its provisions? Are we prepared to discard or sacrifice the value of rule of law for a person or a group of persons?"

He stressed that impeachment is just a constitutional legal process to remove a government official from his or her office if there is ground and evidence to support it.

"The impeached official is not going to jail by the mere fact of his impeachment," Enrile said.

Asked about Enrile's statements, INC spokesman Edwil Zabala refused to comment on the matter.

The INC earlier maintained that the massive rally, attended by an estimated 1.8 million in different parts of the country, was not political even if it was meant to support Marcos' stance rejecting impeachment bids against his former running mate, Vice President Sara Duterte.

In an earlier interview, Zabala said, "I understand that some would think this is political but it's not. As far as we're concerned, it's not. It's something moral, actually."

Zabala had said the religious group was hoping the rally would push public officials to end political rifts and focus on providing programs and services to Filipinos.

Marcos earlier said he would not support any impeachment move against Duterte as it would not benefit the lives of Filipinos. Following the rally, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said Marcos' stance remains unchanged. — VDV, GMA Integrated News