Shaddai to endorse GMA too?

Will the five million-strong El Shaddai movement follow what the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) did?

This question was raised after sources disclosed yesterday that the Catholic charismatic group headed by Bro. Mike Velarde is all poised to announce its full support for President Arroyo.

Sources disclosed late Saturday the preparations being made by Velarde to make the announcement within the week.

The preparations are being made as last-ditch efforts are being exerted by the camps of independent presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. to win over the charismatic group to their side.

"It’s just a matter of time before Brother Mike will make public his group’s decision (endorsing the President)," the source told The STAR.

Sources disclosed Lacson’s camp was still hoping to convince Velarde to switch to their side while Poe is still courting the INC’s backing.

Velarde, or any of his representatives, however, could not be reached for comment or confirmation. Sources added Velarde himself might make the announcement within the week.

With approximately three million registered voters, the flock of El Shaddai may not be as big compared to the INC.

The INC, which has approximately 10 million members, has reportedly endorsed Mrs. Arroyo’s bid for a full six-year term.

Aside from the two religious groups, an organization called "Make It Strong Movement" is also throwing their support behind Mrs. Arroyo.

The group is composed of young professionals, businessmen, students, policemen and former military men linked to several coup attempts against former President Corazon Aquino in the 1980s.

While the group gave no exact figures of their members, they claimed forming part of a still larger number of undecided voters.

The group said they decided to vote Mrs. Arroyo after thorough evaluations on the capabilities of all the presidential candidates.

Another group called "Huwag Po Movement" declared yesterday Mrs. Arroyo is getting more support than what the surveys indicate.

According to the group’s spokesman Danilo de Austria Consumido, many people began to realize Poe has no concrete plan in solving the country’s problems.

"After the initial fancy over his candidacy, which his handlers compared to a tsunami, our people have realized that Poe has no platform and may have less than what it takes to solve the country’s problems," Consumido said in a statement.

Citing the recent survey results, Consumido said there are people in several areas which were initially considered as bailiwicks of the opposition that decided to go over and support the administration.

"It appears that the ‘attention getter,’ who is Poe being a famous actor, is now being overtaken by the ‘attention giver,’ who is the President," he said.

Consumido explained that the tendency of Poe being the "attention getter," makes little effort to communicate, since all attention goes towards him. "As what happened to FPJ (Poe’s initials) who thinks his one-liners taken from the titles of his films are enough to get votes," he said.

On the other hand, Mrs. Arroyo being the "attention giver" is the one who makes dialogues and listens to, and acts on people’s problems as she had been doing for the past three years of her administration, Consumido said.

The Huwag Poe movement and Consumido’s group Kaisambayan have been actively distributing materials warning of the dangers of a Poe presidency.

Consumido said that aside from Poe’s lack of qualifications, the actor’s affiliations with traditional and "discredited" politicians has put him in question.