Bloc Voting of INC, a MYTH?

Most non-INC members says that Bloc Voting of INC is just a MYTH. As for them, its votes are called "swing votes" or votes that can predict the winner for "close fights". The thing is, IS THIS TRUE?

By the way, i just want to clarify that there is no INC BLOC VOTING doctrine, but what we have is UNITY DOCTRINE, please always remember!

A jealous Catholic defender as always, in his blog entitled The Iglesia ni Cristo Bloc Voting is just a MYTH! it is stated:

How much do we know about the "Block-Voting" doctrine of the Iglesia ni Cristo® Unipersonal Corporation? How many adherents do the INC® has today that their supposed number could ensure a winner when their actual number is being held from the public?

How many elligible Iglesia® voters are going to the polls tomorrow to actually vote and how many would be following their doctrine of pagkakaisa? And how many would be defying their elders instead?

We do not know. Unless someone would be monitoring them within the polling stations who'd be turning against their own leader's choice.

Relying on rumors the Iglesia ni Cristo® is bragging an an estimated 5 million votes from its members. For me, that's presumptuous!

We all know that they don't have such a huge number. Or if they have, a solid vote from the INC® is impossible. Well, all we know is that the Iglesia ni Cristo® is playing its political trick again making us believe a myth that their number is powerful enough to determine who would win the elections.

Among the Philippine presidential candidates, the council of elders of the cult founded by Felix Manalo in 1914 finally decided to throw their support to Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III whose popularity is credited, not to the Iglesia ni Cristo® myth but thanks to his devout Catholic parents who are members of Christ's ONLY TRUE CHURCH.

Unlike the Iglesia ni Cristo®, Christ's true Church-- the Catholic Church do not endorse any candidate. Instead the choice is left to individuals according to the dictates of their consciences [Catholic Info]. The Catholic Church respects the individual freedom everyone has however what the Church can do is to ensure there's a peaceful and orderly elections.

The block-voting of the Iglesia ni Cristo® has sparked much controversy both in political and spiritual forums in the internet. Some would argue that this doctrine of the cult directly violates that of our Constitution which prohibits the meddling of spiritual leaders into the affairs of the government. For it's 95 years, the Iglesia ni Cristo® has contributed nothing to the development of the entire nation. Their housing projects are directed only to its members, something not to be proud of.

But why is the Iglesia ni Cristo®’s doctrine attracted so much attention to politicians? Why are they dictating its members like robots? Because they're politicians. And Iglesia ni Cristo® is never a religion but a disguising one. In other words, it's a cult more than a religion.

So how many member do the Iglesia ni Cristo® has today? No one knows. It's one of the Iglesia ni Cristo's many hidden SECRETS.

Significantly, we can refer to how much the ALAGAD PARTY LIST (an Iglesia ni Cristo Party List). From it's vote, we can estimate how many are its members. According to this blog, the actual votes the ALAGAD PARTY LIST got was ONLY 340,977 that is Three Hundred Forty Thousand Nine Hundred Seventy-Seven only. That means they've got just only that much. Although the Philippine Inquirer says their number reaches only 1.8 million according to National Statistic Office 2000 census.

"In the 2000 census, the National Statistics Office put the INC membership in the country at 1.8 million or around 2.3 percent of the total population [emphasis mine]."

How much? It's just 2.3 percent of the total population of the entire country. But here is the most damaging part. The late Erano Manalo admitted that fact! "...dinadaya ang numero.."[they (their Ministers) are cheating their numbers...](Watch YouTube)

Just don't get the credit Iglesia ni Cristo®. Before its central administration even throw their support to Noynoy he was already leading in poll surveys rivaling Villar and Erap (whom they supported in 1998 but now they junked him). Thanks to the support of strong business groups, democracy advocates, die-hard Cory-Ninoy fans and Catholic religious communities including priests who are indebted to his parents-- that helped him most likely to win -- not the Iglesia ni Cristo® myth.

A CHALLENGE TO THE IGLESIA NI CRISTO® ADMINISTRATION!

Let's test their power instead. Its central administration should endorse one of its members to run for Presidency. Let's see if their block-voting could help him/her win. Then we can be sure that they have the the magic number to make a candidate win.

But so far, the Iglesia ni Cristo®'s doctrine of pagkakaisa in block-voting IS JUST A MYTH!

I will not answer this unintelligent post of this Catholic defender, ill just give evidences if the INC's unity in voting does exist. But before that, i will just clarify some issues.



How many INC members now in the world?

For you to know, just and only for you, ill give you my own estimation (This is not official). This will be a low estimation because i dont want others to think im just adding more numbers just to show we are many. This estimation is only for the baptized and registered members on each locales, young members (on CWS or PNK), bible students (dinoktrinahan) and undergoing probationary period (sinusubok) are not included.

By 2008, INC in the Philippines alone has 5,000 congregations and 600 abroad.

Philippines-> 5,000 x 1,000 (low estimate) = 5,000,000
Abroad-> 600 x 200 (low estimate) = 120, 000

Ive given you my realistic estimation, now, HAPPY?



Do all members of the INC participate in unity on voting?

Sad to say, but truth, no. For me, only 90-97% participates on what the INC administration decided. Because not all INC members are faithful, or should i say, not all INC members joined the church because they want to, but because of personal interests and so on. So, these people doesnt understand wholeheartedly and follow the doctrines of the church.


Are we dictated or commanded to vote what the INC administration decided?

This is the truth, NO. as what all of us, we do not follow our parents, or even leaders because we are dictated, but because we trust them that what they do is but for our own good. There is no situation you can see in the church that the ministers commands us to vote what the INC administration decided, or that they threaten us if we will not vote them we will be expelled.

THERE'S NO SUCH THING.

We joined the INC without forcing us to join, meaning to say, before we get baptized, it is expected that we first, wholeheartedly follow and that we fully understood the teachings of the INC. That's why there's first screening and last screening where candidates are asked by the ministers from the doctrines they received. If they failed the oral exam then they will not get baptized.

We recited a promise to God in the worship services just right after the baptism, that we will follow and so on. on the INC, meaning, it is not because of the ministers (that they command or dictate us) why we do follow unity in the INC, but it is because of each one of us, as we promised to God that we will follow and obey and so we understand the teachings in the INC, and one of those teachings is about the UNITY IN THE CHURCH.


Does all registered voters of the INC votes every election?

No. Because of situations like for example, i am registered in Palawan, but i am here in Manila for work, how can i vote then if i am not able to be there? Another situation is this, there are members of the INC as what i have said, not that faithful, for example, My personal choice is Gloria Arroyo, but the INC Admin. decided that we should go for Noynoy, and because it is contrary to what i wanted, i would just not vote in the election.

Same situation is this, not all INC members does believe in election, because some think the results of the election is not accurate or cheated that's why they lost their faith on the significance election, so they do not vote every election.

There are many more situations, and these do happens. I do not invent this because i know some people who do these.


Votes for endorsed politicians has an exchange of something?

People see that the INC do received money or exchange of something from the politicians in exchange of the votes. This is WRONG. But the alleged appointment of INC officials for me, ill tell you frankly, as i have observed is true, but not all.

Because non INC members accuse the church only because the appointed this and that of the government is an INC member, they say its because the church pushed their appointment from the President, i should say this is true but not all appointed officials and so on in the government.

I have read or heard the explanation about this i just dont remember where and how, but as i recall, INC members who wants to work on the government will apply for it to the executive minister, and these people will be hardly chosen and this will be submitted to the president as SUGGESTION. But the thing is, the president and other people see it as pushed appointment, that if the president will not approve it, the INC will not support the president anymore.

Another explanation as i recall is this, that the executive minister wanted to have INC officials on the government for the goodness of the country, because as people described the INC members as responsible, hard working and discipline, these people can contribute for the country as well as they can be a voice of the INC for social issues and so on.


On local government, local officials do support and help the INC for exchange of the votes, is this true?

This is also what the media and non INC members always say, but for me, this is half true. Half true because if the local officials like Mayor and so on help the INC in exchange of votes, it doesnt mean they will be voted by the INC. There is a process, if government officials wants help from the INC (votes) they need to pass requirements/forms to the district office, not on locales.

As what a member said, there such a thing in their province, that there is no candidate for election wants help from the INC, so INC members did not vote on that area.

For others to know, it is prohibited to members and ministers to have any connection with the candidates for election. This is certified. There is a thing happened in the province of a member, that ministers received motorcycles from a candidate and they were reported by the members and they were suspended/expelled from their duties as ministers.

It is prohibited even to receive things from candidates even though they are not helped by the ministers, because the decision is always from the district office and not from the locale ministers.


What are the standards of the INC whom to vote during elections?

I dont know the official standards or requirements of what the church admin. is looking for a political candidate, but i know the general idea about it.

"The INC administration choose candidates that will not persecute or hurdle or do against and so on in the INC. period."

And i think it as fair, because as a voter for example, why would you vote a political candidate that will bring you worse? or will persecute you, or will do bad things to you?

An example is when Bro. Felix Manalo dont want to endorse Elpidio Quirino, Quirino supporters even offer Bro. Felix money but turned it down. It is also happened that INC members are killed and beaten up by civil guards just because they do not vote for Quirino. Bro. Felix chose Avelino on that time even he lose on Quirino.

Because in that time Elpidio Quirino is leading in the polls and so on but it is not a reason for the church to vote him, its always on the background of a particular candidate.


Does the purpose of endorsing candidates of the INC for them to win?

As what ive said earlier, it always depends of the background of the political candidate. Its been testified that in local elections, not all endorsed by the INC won, also on national elections. The thing the INC admin. purposed is not for the endorsed candidates to win, but to perform UNITY among the church.

Another thing, the INC do not claim anything, as you can see it never give any official number of adherents and do not claim how much votes it can bring to the endorsed candidate!





Lets back to the topic...

As what ive said, i will not answer his jealousy, i will just show you evidences if the INC members do participate in UNITY of the INC...

more from resbak.com

The Religious Myth Vote exposed


It should be clear to everyone by now that, except perhaps for the Iglesia ni Cristo, there is no such thing as a “religious vote” in the Philippines.
After the lessons learned in this year’s election perhaps national candidates would be less assiduous in trying to court the support of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ religious sect.
All the presidential candidates tried to get the endorsement of Quiboloy. Some of them went to see him more than once.
Quiboloy, it seems, expects to be paid homage to by the candidates. He expressed strong disappointment when organized Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino and Sen. Manny Villar did not show up for the presidential forum that his sect organized.
The national candidates cannot be blamed for trying their hardest to get the support of Quiboloy. His group claims a membership of six million. If half of that are voters and half of the sect’s voting members follow Quiboloy’s exhortation on whom to vote for, then an endorsed candidate can count on at least 1.5 million votes.
But apparently the six million membership claim is exaggerated and/or the members of the sect are not swayed by Quiboloy’s political endorsement.
The effect of his endorsement of Lakas-Kampi CMD presidential candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro is not apparent in the votes Gibo actually got. In the tally of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting as of 4:24 p.m. On May 12 for 88.78 percent of clustered precincts, Teodoro has registered a total of 3.6 million votes. It’s hard to believe that a significant portion of that vote is from Quiboloy’s group.
The Catholic charismatic group El Shaddai which claims a membership bigger than Quiboloy’s was not a factor in this election. El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde did not openly endorse any presidential candidate although he was clearly favoring Villar. Many are convinced now that even if Velarde openly endorsed Villar it would have had little effect on Villar’s vote.
El Shaddai also interviewed and endorsed local candidates but except for the fact that such endorsement made the candidate feel good, there is little measurable effect of the El Shaddai endorsement as far as the votes are concerned.
Perhaps the way to measure how large the El Shaddai vote really is to look at the votes of the party list group Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (Buhay) whose political poster carry the picture of no less than Velarde himself. Velarde is the fifth nominee of Buhay but he has already said that he will replace the party list group’s first nominee and sit in the House of Representatives himself.
In the Comelec count with votes from 88.95 percent of clustered precincts already in, Buhay already has 1.1 million votes. The final Buhay votes are expected to be in the vicinity of 1.3 million and that probably represents all of the El Shaddai votes.
Of course, national candidates should not expect to get a sizable portion of that El Shaddai vote if they’re endorsed by Velarde. The members of El Shaddai have proven in this election and in the past election that they do not have the voting discipline of the members of the INC.
Another religious group that’s active in politics is the Jesus is Lord church. No less than the leader of JIL Bro. Eddie Villanueva ran for President in this election so the best measure of his political clout would be the actual votes that he got.
In the PPCRV count from 88.78 percent of clustered precincts, Villanueva has already obtained 1,012,921 votes. The number already represents not only the votes of JIL members but the votes of other evangelical groups which strongly endorsed his candidacy.
To think that JIL has claimed an attendance of 1.2 million in the May 1 prayer rally cum miting de avance of Villanueva’s Bangon Pilipinas party.
Villanueva’s endorsement of other candidates apparently also has little effect. While he has already garnered more than a million votes, his running mate former SEC Commissioner Perfecto “Jun” Yasay, in the same PPCRV count, has only 327,169.
The senatorial candidates running with Villanueva are also faring poorly and getting votes much less than the JIL leader.
Like Velarde’s El Shaddai, Villanueva’s JIL also has a party closely identified with it. This is the Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) which first nominee is Villanueva’s son Rep. Joel Villanueva.
In the Comelec count of almost 90 percent of the clustered precincts, CIBAC has 603,100 votes and if you add 10 percent to this, CIBAC will probably get 660,000 in the final count. This is probably the actual voting strength of JIL but again like El Shaddai endorsed national candidate cannot bank that they will get majority of this vote.
The bishops of the dominant Catholic Church have also been proven to be useless political endorsers.
Six members of the Philippine Catholic Church hierarchy —Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa, Bishop Joseph Nacua of Ilagan, Bishop Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, Bishop Antonio Palang of San Jose de Mindoro, Bishop Antonio Navarra of Bacolod and retired Bishop Teodoro Bacani—have come out to openly endorse the presidential bid of JC de los Reyes of Ang Kapatiran party.
In the latest Comelec count from 88.95 percent of clustered precincts, de los Reyes was ninth of the nine presidential candidates with only 34,833 votes. The five active bishops head dioceses with more than three million votes and all de los Reyes was able to get is a mere fraction of this number. Either the bishops didn’t campaign for de los Reyes or their flock do not heed them at all when it comes to partisan politics.
This is not to say that the Catholic Church did not play a key and crucial role in this election. It did, through the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) which was the Comelec’s citizen arm in the last election.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the PPCRV played a key role in the success of the last election by providing some 500,000 volunteers to help in the voters’ education campaign, render assistance in the actual elections and conduct a count based on the copy of the returns that they are officially entitled to get.
Among the religious groups, it is only the Iglesia ni Cristo which has proven that it can provide the swing votes in close contests whether for national or local positions.
The contest for the presidency would probably have been closer if the INC endorsed former President Joseph Estrada instead of Senator Noynoy Aquino.
There are only guesstimates on the actual INC vote. Some say it is as low as one million but others say it could be as high as three million. Let’s assume the INC vote is two million. From the trend in the present count, Aquino will probably lead Estrada by 5 million votes. If you subtract two million from Aquino and add two million to Estrada then it could have been a much closer fight and Estrada would have enjoyed the bandwagon effect which could get thousands more votes.
The INC factor was probably most felt in the senatorial race. Of the 12 candidates endorsed by the INC, 11 are in the Magic 12. Of the winning senatorial candidates, only returning candidate—Sen. Serge Osmeña —was not endorsed by INC. The only INC-endorsed candidate outside the Magic 12 is Rep. Ruffy Biazon who in the latest count is in number 14 and apparently has no chance of making it.
Of course not all the candidates endorsed by the INC for local positions won. Re-elected Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim won by a landslide against INC-endorsed candidate former Mayor Lito Atienza.
Winning Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla won without the INC support. Remulla of course would have wanted the INC support. With that, his lead of 50,000 would surely have been bigger.
For sure Lim, Remulla and the other candidates will continue to woo the INC next time they run. It looks as though the INC vote is the only religious vote that can be counted on in Philippine politics.
source: Manila Standard Today