Cagayan de Oro City – For three straight nights, nightly prayer rallies have been spreading across Mindanao like wildfire, with people coming out of their homes to pray and chant "Ibalik Tatay Digong," a regional Partido Demokratiko Lakas ng Bayan (PDLBN) president reported early Sunday morning.
Manny Lumanao said in a telephone interview with DAILY TRIBUNE from Butuan City that the vigils were held in towns across Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Maguindanao, Davao City, and even in the island province of Dinagat.
"People are coming out of their homes, including senior citizens holding candles," he said.
Earlier, Benito Ranque, co-convenor of the Bring Duterte Home Movement, announced that daily prayer rallies would be held nationwide, seeking divine intervention for the return of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. These rallies aim to demand Duterte's return after his arrest and detention at the International Court Detention Center in the Netherlands.
The kickoff rally was held at Liwasang Bonifacio on Saturday night, with similar events planned across the country while Tatay Digong remains in prison.
Lumanao said nightly prayer rallies had spontaneously formed in Butuan, Tandag, Surigao City, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao City.
"At dusk, people begin gathering in public places for spontaneous peace rallies," he said.
According to Ranque, Duterte was informed in advance of the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant and was advised to stay in Hong Kong under China's protection. However, he decided to return to the Philippines to face the charges and expose those behind the "special operation" that led to his arrest and transfer to the ICC.
Ranque claimed police were already waiting for Duterte at Davao International Airport and Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), but he refused to change his plans.
"I know what I am doing. Let them arrest me," Duterte reportedly told one of his advisers.
Ranque also alleged that Duterte was aware that the Office of the President had chartered a private jet to fly him to the Netherlands for his trial on alleged crimes against humanity before the international tribunal.
Ranque further claimed that Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla admitted in a television interview that he was part of the special operation to arrest Duterte and transfer him directly to the ICC.
"The plane was chartered by the Office of the President. We brought him straight to the Netherlands at 11:03 p.m. (Tuesday) and surrendered him to the ICC," Ranque quoted Remulla as saying.
Remulla also named President Marcos, Speaker Martin Romualdez, National Security Council Secretary Eduardo Año, and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro as the core group behind the special operation.
Ranque speculated that one of the planners leaked the arrest warrant to Duterte, allowing him to anticipate the move.
"But Tatay Digong had already made up his mind, and the rest is history," Ranque said.
He also revealed that the ICC arrest warrant had been issued a month earlier but was kept sealed until ICC investigators William Rosato, Glen Khala, and interpreter Maya Bracken visited the country last November to interview witnesses in a five-star hotel along Roxas Boulevard.
However, he claimed that the investigators left sooner than expected due to widespread rallies at Liwasang Bonifacio protesting their presence.
"Pitifully, not too many people understand how serious this is. The only reason they dared to arrest and investigate Tatay Digong this time is because they have the full backing of President Marcos," Ranque added.