National candidates including three of the five presidential bets attended the the Sunday vigil of the popular Catholic charismatic group, El Shaddai headed by their influential leader, Bro. Mike Velarde in an effort to win the endorsement of the group but all of them failed to get the endorsement.
The three presidential candidates who attended the overnight vigil at the El Shaddai International House of Prayer at the Amvel City Ground in Parañaque City were Vice President Jejomar Binay, Sen. Grace Poe and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas II. The only two candidates who were absent were Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
All the candidates for national post were given a chance to address the crowd attended by thousands of loyal El Shaddai supporters during the celebration of their anniversary.
Some members of the El Shaddai group said that they expected Bro. Mike Velarde to announce the national candidates he would endorse for the May 9 elections even as survey ballots with the names of the presidential and Vice Presidential candidates were distributed to members of the group.
At around 6:00 AM on Sunday that he would reveal his choices for President and Vice President on Tuesday, May 3, 2016. He was quoted as saying “I will let you know on Tuesday. That is our agreement, do not believe in surveys. Whatever I will tell you, that is the truth,” he told the crowd in Filipino.
Aside from the three presidential candidates namely Mar Roxas, VP Binay, and Sen. Grace Poe, vice presidential bets Chiz Escudero and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also attended the event of El Shaddai as well as
Senatorial candidates TG Guingona, Ralph Recto, Sherwin Gatchalian, Martin Romualdez, Leila de Lima, Lorna Kapunan, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Francis Tolentino, Samuel Pagdilao, Rafael Alunan and Rey Langit.
The influential Catholic group El Shaddai has an estimated eight (8) million active in the country and abroad.