Posted by The El Shaddai leader Mariano Zuniega Velarde commonly known as Brother Mike “bared” on GMA news about his plans on running for president on 2010 elections. We were not surprised to hear this from the charismatic leader who boasts its 8 million members are “block” voters. The religious group founded by Brother Mike is always “wooed” by candidates and would be candidates in an attempt to win their support.
Don’t you notice something? Why is it that when it comes to “courting” Brother Mike’s group both PGMA and the opposition group has the same goal? Other than that, they are like “cats and dogs”. This is indeed a ubiquitous scenario and even other charismatic groups shares the same experiences with politicians.
Other “saintly” politicians
The Presidential seat seems to be an “eye candy” not only for traditional politicians, showbiz personalities and businessmen but for charismatic founders as well. Take a look at Bro. Eddie Villanueva of Jesus Is Lord Church, who at 2004 ran for Presidential seat but lost to current President GMA. According to news reports, Bro. Eddie is “again” planning to run for Presidency in the 2010 elections. Hmm… this guy never learns.
As one of the supposed “good servants of God”, Bro. Mike wasn’t shy on discussing the “deal” transpired between him and Erap (Joseph Estrada). On the other hand, the ousted former President cringed away and denied that he and Bro. Mike made that conversation.
Think about it
So who is saying the truth between this two?
We know that Erap is a strong supporter of the El Shaddai group (like other politicians seeking for support). And from other newsposts, Erap said that he was 99.9% sure that he will run for President. So If he is “almost sure of running” and he support Brother Mike’s group ergo it is most probable that this plan/deal is True. Was it obvious from the start?
This video excerpt from GMA news says it all. (The interview was reported in Tagalog. A translation of Bro. Mike’s remark was written courtesy of Yahoo PH).
“Eto ire-reveal ko na sa inyo, nag-usap na kami ni Erap, ang usapan kung hindi ka mapipigil, sasabayan kita. Sabi niya bakit, sabi ko para kapag nadisqualify ka, ako ang kandidato mo, eh kung hindi ka madisqualify, ikaw ang kandidato ko, so we shook hands and that’s the deal,” he said.
(I will reveal this to you, Erap and I have already talked, we agreed that if he can’t be stopped, I will also run with him. He asked me why, I said that if he gets disqualified, I will be his candidate, if he doesn’t get disqualified, he will be my candidate, so we shook hands and that’s the deal.)
Does it sound like a good plan? Maybe not for us but it is to the 2 “gentlemen”.
