Presidential bets begin courting religious votes

Presidential and vice presidential candidates have started courting religious groups, a week after the official start of the campaign period for national posts. Over the weekend, Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar and his running mate Loren Legarda traveled to HongKong to attend the anniversary of a chapter of El Shaddai in the special Chinese region. El Shaddai leader Bro Mike Velarde accompanied both candidates to Hong Kong, the largest concentration of overseas Filipino workers. However, Velarde has yet to announce his choice for president and vice-president in the May polls. On Sunday, former President Joseph Estrada attended the 25th anniversary celebration of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ organization and held a meeting with its founder, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. [See: Erap woos Quiboloy, bishops] Villar also went to see Quiboloy after the official campaign period kicked off last February 9. Gilberto Teodoro Jr. of Lakas-Kampi-CMD and Bro. Eddie Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas also met with the religious leader. Religious votes matter in close fights However, two political analysts belittled the religious vote, saying that these groups deliver only a small portion of the votes. Only 30 percent of the El Shaddai members cast their votes while 80 percent or around 2 million members of Iglesia ni Cristo do so, political analyst Mon Casiple said. "Hindi ganoon kabigat pero in close fights, these votes matter," Casiple said in a phone interview with GMANews.TV. (Only in close fights do these votes matter.) Benito Lim, a professor at the Ateneo de Manila Univesity-School of Social Science, shares Casiple’s observations. "Sa botohan hindi ganoon ka-significant dahil hindi naman lahat ng members nila bumoboto sa sinasabi nila lalo na sa urban regions pero kung close fight pwedeng deciding factor kung mabubuo ang boto ng religious group," Lim told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. (The vote of a religious group may be a deciding factor in case of a close fight.) This was what President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo did in 2004, Lim said. "Noong umiikot siya sa Quezon City, nakafocus ang mata niya sa Iglesia Ni Cristo. Alam niya na kung ang kandidato overwhelming ang resulta from INC pwedeng manalo," Lim said. (When she campaigned in Quezon City, she was eyeing the Iglesia Ni Cristo. She knew that a candidate that had the overwhelming support from the INC could win.) Candidates promise political positions in exchange for votes Some candidates “wheel and deal," offering government positions for religious leaders’ and/or their relatives, in exchange for votes, Lim added. Some candidates are “ruthless opportunists," Lim added. "They go to these groups not because of similar religious or moral beliefs but because their interests coincide," Lim said, adding that some speeches are even tailor-made according to their audience. Lim also believes that the Catholic vote is not a significant vote in the country except when the Church campaigns for a certain issue. He said this is the reason most of the presidential candidates backed out from supporting the reproductive health bill. This view was shared by Casiple, who said that the Catholic Church historically meddles in the political arena most of the time. But at the same time, Casiple placed little premium on the Catholic vote. "Hindi factor ang Katoliko kasi hati-hati sa kandidato bukod pa sa puro Katoliko din naman ang mga kandidato kaya yung minority talaga ang nililigawan nila," he said. (The Catholic vote is not a factor because such support is split among candidates on top of the fact that most of the bets are Catholic. This explains why candidates seek endorsement of other religions.) Politicians woo religious groups because they stick to their choices, unlike the Catholic Church. Casiple added that the Iglesia ni Cristo – which reportedly practices bloc voting – usually sides with the one who is winnable. "Ang Iglesia last minute nagdedecide. Di ko alam kung sinasadya nila pero they tend to favor those leading at the time," he said. (The religious group decides at the last minute. I’m not sure whether this is done deliberately but they tend to favor those leading at the time.) - GMANews.TV