El Shaddai to announce preferred presidential bet on Saturday

While its leader already gave hints on who he is inclined to endorse, the El Shaddai religious group will wait until Saturday to announce whose presidential bid it will support in the May 10 elections. El Shaddai head servant Mariano "Mike" Velarde said he is still evaluating with the El Shaddai's council of elders the aspirants for president. "We will have this remaining one week as an assessment and this coming Saturday we will definitely release our decision," Velarde said in an article posted Tuesday on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site. But he indicated that Nacionalista Party bet Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. may have the inside track, saying he knows Villar more than the other bets. "We’ve known each other for so long but it doesn’t mean that I’m already endorsing him. But of course, he has the advantage because I know him personally," he said of Villar. But Velarde said El Shaddai followers are free to choose their candidates since he does not impose his personal choice on them. Like Villar, Velarde was also dragged into the controversial C-5 Road extension project. [See: El Shaddai's Mike Velarde not off hook in P200M road mess - Lacson] On Monday, Velarde went to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to meet with chairman Jose Melo and offer the Comelec the group's help to ensure the May 10 elections will be credible and peaceful. But he denied his meeting with the Comelec concerns his nominations with the Buhay party list. Velarde is the fifth nominee of the Buhay party list. "We are here to offer our help if we could do something to ensure a credible elections," he said. Religious vote El Shaddai claims to have eight million members worldwide and has been wooed by many candidates during elections. In 1998, the group reportedly endorsed then Vice President Joseph Estrada's presidential candidacy. On Sunday, another religious group, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, threw its support behind administration candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr. [See: Quiboloy endorses Gibo, says admin bet chosen by ‘Father’] The four-million-strong congregation traditionally votes as a bloc, taking its cue from pastor Apollo Quiboloy. Quiboloy also endorsed Liberal Party vice presidential bet Sen. Manuel Roxas II. The Iglesia ni Cristo, another group that traditionally endorses candidates, has yet to make known its preferred presidential and vice presidential bets for this year's elections. — RSJ, GMANews.TV