URDANETA, Pangasinan – The Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), known and sought after for its bloc vote, is reportedly set to endorse the candidacy of Liberal Party standard bearer Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his running mate Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

This developed as Aquino admitted having met with INC executive minister Eduardo V. Manalo last week for the third time, the only presidential candidate who was called that frequently for a meeting with the leaders of the religious group.

According to a highly reliable source the INC will formally announce to its members a list of candidates they are expected to vote three to four days before the Election Day.

Aquino, however, says the endorsement of religious groups such as the INC is only important as far as delivering the party’s message is concerned.

“It makes our job easier,” Aquino told reporters.

“My position is that if there is someone who will endorse us I let them say it themselves. We are waiting for the endorsements of three other groups because I do not want to be presumptuous and thick-faced. If they will give us their support, let it come from them,” Aquino added.

The senator from Tarlac said that he again met with the INC leadership last week.

“I was able to talk to him. I met with him with my family and managed to explain my platform,” Aquino said.

It was the third time that Aquino met with the INC leadership.

First was last January when he, together with Roxas and sister Kris, had a lengthy “getting to know each other” meeting at the INC headquarters in Quezon City.

“They never asked for any favors from us; they just asked us on issues that are vital to the country and society,” Roxas said.

The 1990 census listed 1.4 million INC members, a nearly 300 percent increase from 475,407 in 1970. At an average annual growth rate of 9.8 percent in the last 12 years, INC members could reach some 2.8 million today.

More conservative estimates put the INC membership at 2 million, and the most generous, at 8 million.

Thus, the church’s membership through out the country translates into about 2 million solid “command votes” for the 2010 elections and could make and probably has made the difference between losing and winning at the polls.

It has been said that 84 percent of its members vote for candidates endorsed by its leaders, in keeping with the INC doctrine of “religious unity” that the late executive minister Eraño Manalo once said was “essential to spiritual salvation.”

The INC has been a growing presence in Philippine politics. The one vote of the INC as an expression of church unity has made the church a factor in the elections and has prompted many politicians to seek its support and favor.