THE ruling Liberal Party’s standard bearer, Manuel Roxas II, on Thursday confirmed he paid a visit to Iglesia Ni Cristo Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo on Tuesday night to seek an endorsement from the country’s largest block-voting sect.
He said his meeting with the leader of the two-million bloc-voting INC members gave him a chance to present his platform and described it as good.
“It was good. I thank Ka Eduardo [for the opportunity] and I explained my views on what’s important for our country,” Roxas said in a press conference in Jaen, Nueva Ecija.
“We see the INC and other religious organizations as part of our nation-building efforts because their objective really is to help people.”
Roxas and his wife, former broadcaster Korina Sanchez, were personally received by Manalo in a one-on-one meeting at the Central Office’s Bulwagan Room. Another presidential bet who sought the INC’s endorsement was Senator Grace Poe who met with the INC’s chief political affairs minister Eraño Codera early in April.
Candidates running for national and local positions seek the INC’s support every election cycle given its reputation for bloc-voting. The leadership of the INC is expected to announce its preferred candidates a week before the elections.
Roxas has benefited from the INC’s support several times in the past. The group backed him during the 2004 senatorial elections in which he landed in first place with 19-million votes.
Six years later, Roxas also received the group’s backing in the vice presidential race but narrowly lost to then Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay.