STA. MARIA, Bulacan—A bishop of a religious group from nearby Guiguinto town endorsed Tuesday, March 8 the candidacy of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
This developed even as his camp earlier called out the Catholic church for supposedly "meddling" in politics ahead of the May 2022 elections.
Bishop Ted Malangen of Jesus Christ the Deliverer Church was the third religious leader to declare his backing of the candidacies of Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, following a pray-over ceremony.
Last month, Bro. Mike Velarde of El Shaddai and self-proclaimed "appointed son of God" Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of Kingdom of Jesus Christ also endorsed the so-called "UniTeam" tandem.
Curiously, the governor here, Daniel Fernando, already endorsed over the weekend the candidacy of Marcos Jr.'s rival, Vice President Leni Robredo.
Last Friday, lawyer Vic Rodriguez, Marcos Jr.’s spokesman, called on the Catholic clergy to "be more circumspect" as well as to "refrain from openly meddling with politics".
Marcos Jr.'s first Bulacan campaign happened at Guiguinto Municipal Oval, where he was endorsed by gubernatorial aspirant, Vice Governor Willy Sy-Alvarado.
In an ambush interview, Alvarado said he was confident that Marcos Jr. will win in the province despite Robredo drawing a supposedly bigger crowd during her campaign rally. The aspiring governor cited Marcos Jr.'s victory in the province in the 2016 vice presidential race.
"Sa paglilibot ko po... Bongbong Marcos po... Definitely alam ko po ang lalawigan ng Bulacan, if you will base it during the last election, nanalo po si Marcos dito sa Bulacan (Based on what I saw on the ground, I believe Bongbong Marcos . Definitely, I know the province. And if you will base it on the last election, Marcos also won here)," Alvarado said when asked who Bulacan residents will vote for.
The presidential survey frontrunner was also scheduled to deliver a campaign speech in the towns of Meycauayan and Sta. Maria in a bid to keep his perceived lead in the province, where he beat Robredo by 190,401 votes six years ago.
Asked by reporters to comment about the Bulacan crowd, Marcos Jr.'s spokesman said: "You've been part and you've been covering maybe most of our rallies and I think we are not the proper person to reply to your query."