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The General Elections in the Philippines is over but the counting and so now the long wait for the winners although some have already taken their oath the one everybody’s waiting for is still up in the air. Some see this election as the dawn of a new day with Arroyo no longer President. All I can say is don’t get your hopes up. Remember Corazon Aquino? So many promises, so few realized. Not to mentioned some serious allegations of corruption. Lest you’ll be fooled, Mrs Aquino’s reign wasn’t all that good. And so with this next Aquino, don’t bet your life on it. By the way, he’s Catholic.
Election’s real winner: Iglesia ni Cristo unity!
But for me the biggest winner is once again the Iglesia ni Cristo. For once again unity was observed by its members. This unity caused some people to worry. As reported by GMA News, some “netizens raised suspicions over the election results shown in several clustered precincts in Rodriguez, Rizal.” To them it was suspicious that voters from certain precincts showed they all voted for Aquino! Upon further investigation, it turned out the precincts were inside housing resettlement of the Iglesia ni Cristo and 99 percent of the voters in those precincts are members. For some rabid anti-INC they say 99% is not unity because it’s not 100%. They exclaimed “there’s the crack”! Little do they know that not all of the people in the settlements are INC as some are converts from other religion and whose spouses or children are not yet members.
And in case there are still people who sneer at the INC unity in voting, know that the intention is not to make winners of candidates but rather to be one in judgment, a teaching of the Lord Jesus.
The Manila Standard continues it report thus:
Among the religious groups, it is only the Iglesia ni Cristo which has proven that it can provide the swing votes in close contests whether for national or local positions.
The contest for the presidency would probably have been closer if the INC endorsed former President Joseph Estrada instead of Senator Noynoy Aquino.
There are only guesstimates on the actual INC vote. Some say it is as low as one million but others say it could be as high as three million. Let’s assume the INC vote is two million. From the trend in the present count, Aquino will probably lead Estrada by 5 million votes. If you subtract two million from Aquino and add two million to Estrada then it could have been a much closer fight and Estrada would have enjoyed the bandwagon effect which could get thousands more votes.
The INC factor was probably most felt in the senatorial race. Of the 12 candidates endorsed by the INC, 11 are in the Magic 12. Of the winning senatorial candidates, only returning candidate—Sen. Serge Osmeña —was not endorsed by INC. The only INC-endorsed candidate outside the Magic 12 is Rep. Ruffy Biazon who in the latest count is in number 14 and apparently has no chance of making it.
It looks as though the INC vote is the only religious vote that can be counted on in Philippine politics.
Dynasties
Political dynasties are not new in the Philippines but it seems this year there are a lot more of them. Some are old dynasties like the Marcoses and Aquinos, others are new such as the Arroyos and Estradas. If I’m not mistaken, only Irene Marcos did not run and win in this last election. Bongbong and Imee both won not to mention Madam herself, the still lovely and graceful Madam Imelda. Good for them. For all the supposed greed they’re being accused of, they don’t compare to the Arroyos whom Catholics led by Jaime Cardinal Sin unconstitutionaly put into power. By the way, they’re all Catholics.
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Catholics
The Manila Standard newspaper noted that only the Iglesia ni Cristo vote can be called a “religious vote”. The rest failed miserably. Remember the annointing of Villar by Quiboloy? Add to this the “implied” annointing of Villar by the Catholic El Shaddai of Velarde. So, it’s either the supposed numbers are bloated, or the members do not follow the instructions of their leader, or both. And what about Villanueva? He got 1 million votes! That’s all. Had anyone outside his church voted for him? If not and all his followers voted for him then it’s safe to say there are only 1 million JIL members of voting age.
The dominant Roman Catholic church is even more embarassing! As the Manila Standard reported:
“Six members of the Philippine Catholic Church hierarchy —Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa, Bishop Joseph Nacua of Ilagan, Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, Bishop Antonio Palang of San Jose de Mindoro, Bishop Antonio Navarra of Bacolod and retired Bishop Teodoro Bacani—have come out to openly endorse the presidential bid of JC de los Reyes of Ang Kapatiran party.
In the latest Comelec count from 88.95 percent of clustered precincts, de los Reyes was ninth of the nine presidential candidates with only 34,833 votes. The five active bishops head dioceses with more than three million votes and all de los Reyes was able to get is a mere fraction of this number. Either the bishops didn’t campaign for de los Reyes or their flock do not heed them at all when it comes to partisan politics.
This is not to say that the Catholic Church did not play a key and crucial role in this election. It did, through the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) which was the Comelec’s citizen arm in the last election.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the PPCRV played a key role in the success of the last election by providing some 500,000 volunteers to help in the voters’ education campaign, render assistance in the actual elections and conduct a count based on the copy of the returns that they are officially entitled to get.”
De los Reyes would be lucky if he gets 100,000 votes! Endorsed and embarrassed by the CBCP. And the Philippines is 80% Catholic. By the way, he’s Catholic too.
So there you go. May 10 elections in a snap.
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