Philstar.com
February 14, 2022 | 3:48pm
MANILA, Philippines — El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde’s endorsement of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his running-mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte was his own and not of the church group’s, their spiritual adviser Most Rev. Bishop Teodoro Bacani said.
In an interview with Teleradyo’s “On The Spot” on Monday, Bacani clarified that El Shaddai, the influential Catholic charismatic group, has not endorsed the Marcos-Duterte tandem.
“First, Bro. Mike did not give an endorsement by El Shaddai,” he said in Filipino.
What the two candidates received was an endorsement by Velarde as an individual. Followers of El Shaddai are not obligated to follow him and are free to vote or campaign for the candidate of their own choosing.
“He (Velarde) did not consult the elders, he did not consult the bishops in the locality, he did not consult the spiritual director, he did not consult me,” Bacani said.
“That’s his own personal stand. That is Bro. Mike Velarde of El Shaddai, but it is not the opinion of the body,” Bacani continued.
News5 reported on Saturday that Velarde has endorsed the Marcos-Duterte tandem. “It’s time for us Filipinos to be united. After all, napagbigyan natin yung mga kalaban ni Marcos ng maraming taon baka naman ito may magawang mabuti sa atin, that’s why I have chosen them,” the El Shaddai leader said.
(After all, we gave Marcos’ opponents many years, maybe these two will do something good for us)
On the same day, Marcos’ spokesperson Vic Rodriguez called Velarde’s endorsement a “generous gesture” and a testament to “the call to liberate the Filipino people from the fetters of disunity [that] gets stronger by the day.”
‘Downright wrong’
But for Bacani, Velarde’s endorsement of Marcos is “downright wrong.”
“You cannot endorse a man like [Marcos] for president. Because we know their records and to this day, they have not apologized to the anomalies of the past. It’s a family that has not turned its back on Marcos,” he added.
Bacani however stressed that he is merely sharing his opinion.
He added that he will talk to Velarde on Tuesday because of his belief that the endorsement was wrong.
Marcos and Duterte are the frontrunners in the survey conducted before the campaign season kickoff. Both enjoy double-digit leads over their rivals. — Kristine Joy Patag
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