Walden Bello on INC Endorsement: "Not very good for our democracy..."

Walden Bello Speaks on Endorsement of INC for Election

WALDEN BELLO – The vice-presidential candidate spoke on the endorsement of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) of election bets.

Less than a week before the May 2022 Elections, the religious group Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) announced its endorsement of the presidential bid of former Senator Bongbong Marcos and the vice-presidential bid of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. It is known to the public that INC which has over two (2) million members believes in the united voting.

Marcos Jr. is the standard-bearer of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas while Duterte is running under Lakas-CMD. The BBM-Sara tandem is pushing for unity and has tagged their group as UniTeam. Both candidates who were previously criticized for their series of absences from the election-related events sponsored by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) are leading the results of the Pulse Asia surveys.

According to vice-presidential candidate Walden Bello, he was not surprised anymore over the endorsement of INC of the tandem of former Sen. Bongbong Marcos and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, Walden Bello claimed that INC has supported the more authoritarian candidates in the previous elections. However, the vice-presidential candidate said that the endorsement of the religious group does not benefit democracy.

Bello tagged it as “very disturbing” if there is a force that orders people to cast their votes for certain candidates instead of choosing who to support individually. Based on the report, he is hoping that INC’s practice of voting based on the preference of its leader will stop.

“I hope that the INC changes its policies and doesn’t go on with its traditional practice of commanding its adherents to vote according to the preference of the head of the church,” the Vice Presidential Bet said.

According to Bello, for him, the endorsement is not in the pursuit of the interest of the Filipino people but a “sectarian interest of a certain religion”. He expressed his strong objection to the practice of the INC stressing that there is the separation of Church and State and the democracy that people can choose whoever they want to support. He believes that there is really a need for the resumption of the orientation for democracy.

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