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The Iglesia ni Cristo has endorsed six candidates
from the administration, five from the opposition and an independent
candidate, ABS-CBN News reported Wednesday.
Sources from the INC identified
the 12 as Team Unity’s Michael Defensor, Ralph Recto, Joker
Arroyo, Vicente Sotto 3rd, Juan Miguel Zubiri and Edgardo Angara;
Genuine Opposition’s Francis Escudero, Loren Legarda, Panfilo
Lacson, Manuel Villar and Benigno Aquino 3rd; and independent
Francis Pangilinan.
ABS-CBN’s radio station DZMM
reported that Recto and Zubiri had thanked the INC for the
endorsement during TU’s grand rally or miting de avance in Davao
City.
INC, which claims to have two
million members of voting age, is noted for its bloc voting in
elections.
The INC command vote is
considered a vote that could determine the fate of a candidate. Some
reports attributed the victory of Joseph Estrada in 1998
presidential elections and the reelection of President Arroyo in
2004 to INC’s bloc voting.
Executive Secretary Eduardo
Ermita said on Wednesday that the endorsements by religious groups
challenges the credibility of survey agencies.
Ermita issued the statement in
the wake of a report that Team Unity’s candidates were being
endorsed by religious organizations such as the Federation of
Evangelical Bishops and the IBCP.
“Let us respect their own
positions on these senatorial bets because if you will notice in the
SWS [Social Weather Stations] and Pulse Asia surveys one, two and
three come from one group as against the other. Now, here you are
telling me that religious organizations endorse Team Unity,”
Ermita said.
In previous surveys GO’s Loren
Legarda, Manuel Villar and Panfilo Lacson were consistently the
leading choices.
But TU’s Luis “Chavit”
Singson who has fared poorly in the surveys, was the top choice of
the Federation of Bishops.
Ermita said church organizations
have enough men on the ground to better assess the qualifications of
the candidates.
--ABS-CBN Interactive
and Sam Mediavilla
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