JIL's Eddie Villanueva, party-mates file COC

Brother Eddie Villanueva of the Jesus Is Lord (JIL) movement on Monday filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president. Villanueva, who placed last among the five presidential candidates in the 2004 elections, was accompanied by his running mate, former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chief Perfecto Yasay, and five senatorial bets. In an interview with reporters, Villanueva said the Bangon Pilipinas Party has formed the ultimate "dream team" of senatorial candidates.

“Bawat isa po dito ay kumakatawan sa bawat sektor ng lipunan (Every one of them represents a sector in society), an entire spectrum of the Philippine society is represented through the dream team of Bangon Pilipinas," he said after filing his COC at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Manila. Villanueva's senatorial bets are former GMA reporter Alex Tinsay, former ABS-CBN reporter Kata Inocencio, El Shaddai preacher and migrant rights advocate lawyer Ramon Ocampo, political scion Dr. Noldy Alonto, doctor of philosophy Ismael Virgines. He said Tinsay represents the media, Inocencio the women and children, Ocampo the migrants, Alonto the Muslims in Mindanao, and Virgines the religious. Aside from representing many sectors of society, Villanueva said what sets them apart from other parties is that they have no strings attached to them. “Bagong Pilipinas (is a) non-traditional political party, (without) a trace of corruption in the past, not beholden to political power, not beholden to any business economic power, not beholden to any religious power, beholden only to god and to the Filipino people," Villanueva said. If they are elected, the JIL leader said they would restore the former glory of the Philippines in the 1940s when the country was supposedly Asia’s best. “Dito po sa taong 2010, bibigyan ng pagkakataon ng kasaysayan ang sambayanang Pilipino na makabangon ang Pilipinas (This coming 2010, history is giving Filipinos a chance to uplift the country) through this dream team of Bangon Pilipinas Party," he said. Villanueva, 62, was formerly a left-leaning activist and economics professor before becoming a religious leader in the late ‘70s. He is also the owner and chairman of ZOE Broadcasting Network. The religious leader is banking on the support of the Bangon Pilipinas Party and the JIL, a Pentecostal movement in the Philippines that he founded in 1978. JIL claims to have at least seven million members today in 43 countries, with missions in 4,000 barangays in 85 provinces across the country. - LBG/KBK, GMANews.TV