Aveteran journalist put in words what most political observers were thinking yesterday, as members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) swarmed Edsa-White Plains Avenue early in the morning: “Now we’ll find out who runs the country—Marcos or Manalo.” The Palace informed the press that President Marcos was canceling his engagements for the day to “monitor the situation,” followed by an exchange of statements: the INC declaring it opposed charges against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta as “selective justice” and a “distortion of the law,” and the Palace warning the public not to be taken in by cults.

By early afternoon, after an earlier rain shower had literally dampened the proceedings, reporters said the rally site had emptied out. While one ex-cop, Nicolas Torre III, had people clapping again when, in his capacity as general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, he simply started having vehicles blocking the road towed away, the Philippine National Police itself seemed less dynamic.

The PNP seems to have been either taken by surprise by the mass mobilization or slow in responding to it, and once it heaved into action, seemed inclined to continue on the basis of sheer momentum: it had declared itself on full alert as far as Regions III and IV-A, suggesting it expected reinforcements to the rally, when reporters were airing video of the empty rally stage.