Members of the influential Philippine sect Iglesia ni Cristo, seen here in this 2014 file photo, have been instructed to vote as bloc for controversial presidential hopeful Rodrigo Duterte and vice presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator. (Photo by George Moya)
The Iglesia ni Cristo, an influential Christian sect in the Philippines, has endorsed the candidacy of Rodrigo Duterte, a leading presidential hopeful nicknamed "Dirty Harry" for his tough stance on crime.
The 101-year-old sect, which has an estimated 2.25 million members, also declared support for the vice presidential candidacy of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator who ruled the country for two decades.
The INC announced its endorsement through a statement read by executive minister Eduardo Manalo, who called on sect members to vote as one.
Manalo said the decision "is based on the teachings in the Bible that were taught to us even before we were accepted as members of the Church of Christ."
"We have faith that it is God's teaching that there shouldn't be division among us, but that we should be one in thinking and one in judgment," he said.
Eagle News radio, an INC station, reported that the names of Duterte and Marcos were printed on "sample ballots" that are being distributed to members around the country.
Sect spokesman Edwil Zabala refused to confirm the report, saying that "nothing has changed" to his earlier media statements.
"You will know when we tell our members whom to vote for. The process is not yet over," he told ucanews.com in a May 6 text message.
He said members have been "peaceful and patient in waiting for whatever will be the INC administration's decision on whom they would vote for."
Zabala assured that members "will vote as one in unity with the church administration and with God whose teachings the church strictly follows."
A member of the Iglesia ni Cristo waves the sect's banner during a celebration. (Photo by George Moya)
Bloc voting
Over the past two decades, the INC has backed the country's successful presidential candidates, except one. In 1992, the sect endorsed Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. who lost to Fidel Ramos.
In 2010, the INC sect endorsed the presidential candidacy of Aquino and his vice presidential candidate, Manuel "Mar" Roxas. Aquino won, but Roxas lost to Jejomar Binay.
Data from exit polls done by the Social Weather Stations in the 2010 presidential election show that an estimated 1.53 million members voted during the election. The pollster estimated that the number can rise to 1.7 million this year.
During the 2010 election, INC voters went 77.1 percent for Aquino, and 12 percent for ousted president Joseph Estrada. The Social Weather Stations noted that the 77 percent was the "extent of unity of the INC vote."
The sect has been voting as a bloc since the time of its founder Felix Manalo. To clinch an endorsement, a candidate is supposed to be "liked" by the members of the sect and must be doing well in poll surveys.
On May 2, Aquino met with the sect’s current executive minister in what has been perceived as an attempt to court the sect's vote for Roxas, this year's administration presidential candidate.
The sect became embroiled in a legal battle with the Aquino administration last year when the government launched an investigation into allegations of kidnappings of dissenting ministers who exposed church corruption.
The sect accused the government of state intervention into church affairs and blocked a major highway in the national capital for days. Government prosecutors eventually dropped charges against sect leaders.
Founded by dissatisfied Catholic Felix Manalo, grandfather of Eduardo Manalo, the sect claims to be the "one true church." Its 2.25 million members consider the sect as the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy of the first church reestablished in the Far East.