Every name written in your ballot shares these ideals – truth, justice, peace, and prosperity. If your candidate does not include these tenets in his platform, screw him.

While everyone has his own list of pluses and minuses and a set of uniqueness, Brother Eddie Villanueva outscores them in so many ways you’d think you are dreaming.

Say the magic word: Righteous

This is his pet word – righteous. Be it a righteous person or righteous governance, this word is a staple in his speeches.

“I have been fighting for good government and righteous leadership…”

“In Proverbs 25:5, remove the wicked away from the king’s throne so the government will be based on righteousness.”

“In other words, I believe in my heart that Godly Filipinos must be encouraged as long as they are competent, as long as they are qualified to run for any public office so that we can have a righteous government …”

“ We just want to build a righteous political party.”

His supporters even echo this in many occasions to defend him against those who dared question him. There are a majority of us, Christians or not, who are not really sold to the “righteous governance” of a “righteous leader” like Brother Eddie.

I’d tell you why.

He shoves his concept of “righteousness” down everyone’s throats making people feel unworthy, dirty, sinful and an outcast. Notice how he would pepper his speeches with biblical verses, inject the word “righteous” in almost every sentence and view some minorities like the homosexuals as sinners. If you are to win people, you are not suppose to cast stones on them.

Poor choice of words

Here are some definitions of the word “righteous”:

Morally upright; without guilt or sin: a righteous parishioner.
In accordance with virtue or morality: a righteous judgment.

Brother Eddie’s brand of righteousness is not grounded on reality but on a fairytale. Six years of zero corruption? Are you nuts? Everyone who sat in Malacanang vowed to do the same only to find themselves ensnared by it. Millions have died fighting to restore righteousness and equality, and I have yet to see a government in my lifetime that is able to exercise this in a fuller sense of the word. While laws on equality have been passed, injustices still happen around the world.

Because we are not in heaven yet.

This kind of idealism does not appeal to everyday people (or “unbelievers” as his flock would call them). It simply alienates the ordinary Juan the way most Brother Eddie supporters do to those whose opinions differ from them. They attack like locusts and accuse non-supporters of opposing God’s plans. Brother Eddie is God’s plan. Therefore, running against him will make you part of the devil’s clan.

It is the “holier than thou” attitude that most people, even the hypocrites themselves, despise. Brother Eddie exemplified this best when asked about his opinion on “Ang Ladlad”.

“I have no religious biases. I have no religion; you may be surprised. I hate discrimination, as a full-blooded democrat.”

The full-blooded democrat says he believes in the Constitution—“unless it contradicts God’s law.” He detests discrimination, he says, and generously allows that homosexuals are also loved by God. “I have to really share with them the restoration of moral and righteous fibers of one’s existence.” All who have fallen into homosexuality “need help.”

Look who’s talking.

The kingdom of absolutes (and some compromises)

It’s Brother Eddie or nothing. It can’t be Noynoy, Villar or whoever, because they do not fit the righteous-meter. They do not share the hotline with God.

To his supporters, Brother Eddie is the righteous one, short of saying the anointed one, who can save the Philippines from corrupting itself. Give the rein to someone who is not as righteous, this country would go bankrupt. Give it to him, no one is going to serve roaches for dinner. After all, did he not promise six years of zero corruption?

And why not? Brother Eddie claimed that God spoke to him in many occasions. Of course, God is the better judge of that. We were not there when it happened.

What we saw were some sort of manifestations of what the talks had been about. In 1998, Brother Eddie anointed Jose De Venecia to become the next president and duped everyone there into believing that the acronym JDV stood for Jesus Declaration of Victory, and not for Jose de Venecia. Then in the middle of the program, everyone was already chanting JDV, meaning the old de Venecia.

Then the prophecies came declaring him as the soon coming president of the country. When he lost his first presidential bid, that sour note took the pulpit. Now that he’s running again, his political ad “Eddie Ako!” becomes part of the church service.

And what was he doing in Apollo Quiboloy’s sanctuary a few months ago? Isn’t he Apollo the “son” of God who Brother Eddie used to consider as one of the country’s false religious teachers? Funny that Quiboloy chose Gibo Teodoro over someone who is supposed to be his “co-citizen” in heaven. That’s the problem with people who exchanged verbal punches in the past. They do not easily forget.

My conclusion

The problem with Brother Eddie lies on his being a established preacher, a radical one at that, who sought public office and has now difficulties discerning politics from his religion. Given the fact that he resigned from his ministry and aspire for the presidency, he failed to take his church robe off and be citizen Eddie who walks the earth with simple men. The way he communicated and interpreted his platform, while ideal and good, smelled like a transcript of his Sunday message that scares away people of weaker faith.

References:
A government of righteous men
Bro. Eddie C. Villanueva: To rise anew