VitugVlogs: The charismatic vote

MANILA, Philippines – Buhay emerges number 1 in the party-list race in the midterm polls.
But Rappler’s editor at large Marites Vitug says the victory of the Catholic charismatic group does not prove the existence of a Catholic vote.
Here’s her video blog.

Once more, Buhay topped the party-list race.
It was number 1 in 2007, garnering more than a million votes.
It slid down to number 3 in 2010 and reclaimed its top rank in this year’s mid-term elections.
Buhay is basically the El Shaddai constituency of Bro. Mike Velarde.
A conservative group, it went against the RH law.
But, as we have seen, the victory of senatorial candidates who backed the RH law shows the absence of a Catholic vote.
Yet Buhay, a Catholic charismatic group, won big in the party-list contest.
Is there a contradiction here?
Not really.
Akbayan party-list representative Walden Bello says, what we’re seeing is the translation of Velarde’s charismatic hold into votes.
After all, Velarde’s son, Michael, is one of the group’s nominees.
The Buhay phenomenon is a vote for Velarde rather than a vote for the Catholic Church.
In reality, El Shaddai does not strictly fall under the Catholic Church hierarchy.
But the bishops would not want the group, which has a huge mass base, to slip away from their hold.
This is Marites Vitug for VitugVlogs.

– Rappler.com