Mar Roxas eyeing meeting with Iglesia ni Cristo

With less than five weeks in his campaign for the presidency, administration standard bearer Manuel "Mar" Roxas II said he is expecting to meet with religious sect Iglesia ni Cristo, known to vote as a bloc in national elections.

"Ang pagsuporta at pag-endorso ay kusang binibigay. Tayo ay of course hinihingi natin ang tulong ng iba't ibang grupo, kasama INC pero 'yun ay hinahayaan natin sa kanila dahil yun ay kusang bininigay," Roxas said in an interview at Bayugan, Agusan del Sur, where he capped off his campaign Monday night.

Asked if he intends to meet with the group, Roxas said: "I would expect."

One of Roxas' opponents in the presidential race, Senator Grace Poe, earlier confirmed meeting with Iglesia minister Eraño Cordera but she denied asking for the group's support.

The National Statistics Office's 2010 data places the Iglesia ni Cristo membership at 2,251,941.

In 2010, Roxas got the endorsement of the group when he ran for the vice presidency as the running mate of then Liberal Party standard bearer Benigno Aquino III.

According to Pulse Asia's 2010 Elections Exit Polls, Iglesia ni Cristo voting strength was estimated to be four percent of the electorate; 84.8 percent of them voted for Aquino.

Roxas got 86.4 percent of the votes of Iglesia ni Cristo members. His close political rival, Vice President Jejomar Binay, only got 8.8 percent.

Roxas however lost to Binay by a slim margin of 700,000 votes. —JST, GMA News