Sen. Bongbong Marcos retracts hus statement about the news announcement made by his camp that the popular religious group Iglesia ni Cristo already endorsed him as their official candidate for Vice President in the highly anticipated 2016 national elections.
On Friday, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was quoted as saying that he has been endorsed by the politically influential Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), a religious group with an estimated 1.6 million command votes.
According to the former governor of Ilocos Norte he was chosen by the influential religious group based upon the report by Radyo Inquirer. The report of Inquirer was posted on the official social media account of Sen. Bongbong Marcos.
Followers and supporters of the senator rejoiced on social media after the announcement went viral online but later in the day, Marcos retracted his statement when the INC did not officially confirm his claim.
According to the Marcos camp, the senator was misquoted when he made the statement during a sortie in Daet, Camarines Sur, on Friday.
According to his staff, what Marcos said was: “As far as I know there is no official statement from the INC so I cannot confirm. But I thank all those supporting me…Unfortunately on the specifics about the Iglesia ni Cristo they have not yet issued an official endorsement.”
The leadership of INC including INC spokesperson Edwil Zabala neither confirmed nor denied reports that the religious sect has already chosen to endorse presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe and vice presidential candidate Marcos for the May 9 elections.
The INC spokesperson just released the following statement “As of now we have not officially endorsed any candidate. Our leaders may have chosen candidates for the INC members to support but we have not announced any names yet,” Zabala said according to Inquirer.