ALL FIVE presidential candidates have knocked at the door of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) to seek its endorsement, a sign the 101-year-old homegrown religious sect still commands political influence with a perceived ability to summon its faithful to vote as a bloc.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Grace Poe, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas separately met with INC executive minister Eduardo Manalo or other INC officials during the final 30-day campaign.
So far, the INC hierarchy has not spoken on its choice.
But the much-vaunted INC vote鈥攁 pollster estimated that some 1.7 million members are voting in Monday鈥檚 national elections from 1.5 million in 2010鈥攎ay no longer be rock-solid after a tumultuous year, expelled members said.
The sect was wracked by division last year following reports of abduction, harassment and expulsion of ministers critical of its governing council, and allegations of corruption against some of its leaders.
鈥淥ur group will not carry whomever INC will endorse,鈥� Joy Yuson said by phone, referring to the self-styled 鈥渃hurch defenders,鈥� whose members have raised questions about the INC leadership.
鈥淲e鈥檙e split,鈥� said Yuson, a minister who was expelled in 2014 after his wife spoke about聽 INC corruption with other members. 鈥淭he situation at INC is abnormal.鈥�
Expelled minister Isaias Samson Jr., who stirred up a hornet鈥檚 nest last year when he accused the INC governing council, Sanggunian, of detaining him, his wife and son, also weighed in on the matter.
鈥淚 truly believe that because of the recent controversies and increase in the number of 鈥榮ilent defenders,鈥� the church vote will not be solid anymore,鈥� Samson said in an interview by e-mail.
Yuson, Samson and another expelled member, Lowell Menorca II, pointed to the significant drop in offerings at worship services as a sign of the waning support for the INC hierarchy.
The online plea for help by the widow and son of the late INC executive minister Era帽o Manalo in July last year, and subsequent reports of harassment of INC members set off a furor among some members.
While many stayed in the church and continued to attend the worship services, their 鈥渕oney offering has gone down tremendously,鈥� observed Samson, an ordained minister for 43 years prior to his expulsion.
Dismay
It鈥檚 鈥渁n expression of their dismay and belief that there is rampant corruption in the church and that the church fund goes to the pockets of corrupt church officials,鈥� he added.
INC leaders had been accused of skimming off collections in the United States, profiting from the construction of the $200-million Philippine Arena in Bulacan province, and flying in style in their own aircraft, among others. They denied the charges.
Menorca, who has also accused the INC hierarchy of abducting, threatening and harassing him, and is now seeking conditional refugee status in Canada, agreed.
鈥淭hey manifest their protest through other ways including reduced church offerings during worship services, the impact of which is felt by the organization worldwide,鈥� he said in a separate interview by e-mail.
The thin crowd that turned up at the four-day rally called by the INC hierarchy at the Department of Justice (DOJ) compound, and later, on the major thoroughfare Edsa in August last year in protest over the DOJ鈥檚 undue attention to Samson鈥檚 case against the INC hierarchy was also a telling sign of some members鈥� waning support for the hierarchy, Samson said.
The charges filed by Samson were dismissed.
Menorca said he shared the sentiments of the INC 鈥渢hinking voters,鈥� and that had he not left the country, he would have voted for the candidate 鈥渨ho is not afraid to stand for what is right, even if he has to go against the powerful and influential INC.鈥�
鈥淥therwise, I will just perpetuate the worsening corruption festering the church right now, in partnership with politicians it helped put in power,鈥� he said.
INC spokesperson Edwil Zabala dismissed as a 鈥渘onissue鈥� the detractors鈥� claims on the lack of a solid vote.
鈥淲e do not force our beliefs upon nonmembers. Iglesia ni Cristo maintains its organizational unity for the faithful and our activities will speak for us,鈥� he said in a text message.
In the same breath, Zabala, however, said the 鈥渘onmembers鈥� were 鈥渇ree to do what they want.鈥�
On claims that the drop in offerings was proof of the waning support for INC, he said: 鈥淲e are confident that for as long as we limit ourselves to facts based on evidence, Iglesia ni Cristo will continue to be vindicated against our detractors.鈥�
To the claim that a vote for the INC candidate was a vote to perpetuate corruption, he said: 鈥淭hat may not be an observation but the intention of those who say so. We shall see.鈥�
鈥淔or every tribulation the church has endured the past century, we have emerged much stronger. We believe that the Church is upheld by the Lord, and we abide by his guidance. His grace is enough for us,鈥� he added.
In a tightly fought race, the INC vote would be crucial.
Culling data from exit polls in the 2010 presidential election, Mahar Mangahas of Social Weather Stations said that an estimated 1.53 million INC members voted in the balloting that year, and this could rise to 1.7 million this year, factoring in the population growth of 2 percent a year.
That election year, INC voters went 77.1 percent for the then eventual winner, Benigno Aquino III, and 12 percent for Joseph Estrada. The 77 percent was the 鈥渆xtent of unity of the INC vote,鈥� Mangahas wrote in September 2015.
INC has been voting as a bloc since the time of Felix Y. Manalo, founder of INC, according to Samson.
To clinch the endorsement, the candidate must be 鈥渓iked鈥� by the members, does not oppress INC in favor of another religion and must be doing well in the poll surveys, Samson said.
Winnability
Menorca added that INC also ran its own internal survey in certain locales to determine the 鈥渨innability鈥� of a candidate.
The results of the survey are deliberated upon in different levels until they reach the desk of the executive minister. These would hold unless there are 鈥減rivate negotiations鈥� with candidates for Congress, Vice President and President, he said.
With the help of the surveys, it鈥檚 rare that INC flubbed its choices. It happened though in 1992 when its candidate, businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., lost to Fidel V. Ramos.
鈥淣obody knows whom a member has voted for. But because unity in the polls is a part of the doctrine about unity being one body of Christ, thus, it is a grievous sin to destroy it, the members adhere to it religiously,鈥� Samson said.
Cracks within the sect began to show since Cristina 鈥淭enny鈥� Manalo and her son, Angel, posted an online plea for help in July last year, claiming their lives were in danger.
Soon after, some INC ministers and members, including Samson and Menorca, came out to accuse the INC governing council of illegal expulsion, detention and abduction, charges that were denied by the INC leaders.