MANILA (UCAN): Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani of Novaliches, the spiritual director of the eight million strong Philippine charismatic lay group, El Shaddai, rapped its founder, the flamboyant ‘Brother’ Mike Velarde, for his “unofficial and erroneous” endorsement of former senator, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., and first daughter, Sara Duterte, for president and vice president in upcoming national polls.
“We are in one in mind and heart when it comes to voting. That’s for sure,” Velarde claimed during a February 12 rally in Parañaque City.
Bishop Bacani, in a video message circulated online, said Velarde had the right to back whoever he wanted but that was his own personal choice, not that of the organisation.
“Marcos supposedly dreams about unity. But he and his family are not remorseful for the things they did during martial law [under his father] and the plunder—billions that they got from the country’s public coffers. So, the endorsement is wrong,” the bishop pointed out.
El Shaddai is the biggest charismatic group in the Philippines, as such politicians ingratiate themselves with Velarde hoping to gain a huge voting block.
Bishop Bacani reprimanded Velarde for endorsing a candidate without consulting people within the organisation.
The “endorsement was not the endorsement of the entire El Shaddai group. This was a personal endorsement of Mike Velarde,” the bishop said, adding, “This is bigger than Brother Mike himself.”
