| source : staff | |||
| Saturday, 21 April 2007 01:15 | |||
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his followers to vote for in the May 14 elections. Party-list group, Abakada Guro, an educators' group, said Velarde would be violating the mandated separation of Church and the state if he pushes through with his endorsement. “Where votes are cast because of religious fervor or fanaticism, provoke or inspired by endorsements by a beloved and influential religious leader, it cannot be said that the election is free and credible," said Abakada Guro president Samson Alcantara in his three-page petition. “The votes would be cast because of undue influence." Comelec, according to Alcantara should rule on the suit as part of the poll body's constitutional duty to ensure free, credible and honest elections. Velarde, servant leader of the charismatic group El Shaddai, is set to come out with a list of 18 candidates to guide his over five million followers. Aside from Velarde, leaders of other churches such as Iglesia Ni Cristo and Jesus Is Lord Movement openly endorsed candidates in local and national elections in the past while the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines maintains that it is not endorsing any candidates. Alcantara argued that the religious groups exercising partisan politics “poses a clear and present danger of serious erosion of people's faith in the electoral process and reinforces their belief that religious leaders undermine the ultimate result of elections." Should the “command vote" or bloc voting persevere, he is convinced that this would in the future have negative implications because they could dictate to the President adding “the government then becomes one big religious institution." Meanwhile the Comelec extended the deadline for the inspection, verification and sealing of precinct book of voters from April 14 to 30 due to manpower shortage. In Resolution No. 7860, dated Apr. 18, the Commission en banc said the extension was the result of the problem of inadequacy of teachers raised during a recent meeting attended by officials of Comelec, Department of Education, Philippine National Police and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. - GMANews.TV
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