Bro. Eddie's Cebu campaign marks anniversary of Magellan's Philippine arrival

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu - Citing passages from the Bible, presidential aspirant Eddie Villanueva on Tuesday declared that the year 2010 ushers in a period of restoration for a nation mired in poverty. March 16, 2010 starts the year-long celebration for the 490th year after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived the Philippines, paving the way for three centuries of Spanish colonization. “The significance of this year is that it is the jubilee year, according to the Bible, which says that every nation who reaches 490 years has an opportunity to put an end to all wickedness, unrighteousness, and injustice resulting in shocking poverty," Villanueva told GMANews.TV. He stressed that his party chose to hold its campaign on the day marking the “the jubilee of all jubilees" in this historic province that served as the gateway to the birth of Christianity in the nation. This, even as Villanueva’s Jesus Is Lord Movement is non-Catholic. Villanueva ran for president in 2004 but placed last among five aspirants. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won in the last elections, a victory tainted by fraud allegations. At an assembly of almost 1,000 Bangon Pilipinas supporters at the Cebu International Convention Center on Tuesday, Villanueva joined in praying for the country’s transformation through the May 10 polls. Those who attended the event were running mate Perfecto Yasay Jr., former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the party’s senatorial bets: Zosimo Paredes, singer Imelda Papin, lawyers Reynato Princesa and Israel Virgines, Ramoncito Ocampo, former broadcasters Kata Inocencio and Alex Tinsay, and Muslim leader Adz Nikabulin. On Tuesday night, the party will hold a campaign rally in Cebu City, running on the premise that the Bangon Pilipinas party was appointed to initiate change on the day marking the 490th year after Magellan arrived in the country. In the Old Testament, particularly in Leviticus chapter 25, it was said that every seventh year is the Sabbath year that marks forgiveness of sins. “The number 490 is also important for Brother Eddie because in the Bible, Jesus says we should forgive our brothers 70 times seven. That’s 490," said Villanueva's supporter who declined to be named. On March 16, 1521, Magellan’s expedition docked on the shores off Homonhon Island in near Samar Island. He and his Spanish companions went to Mactan Island in Cebu a month later, where he was eventually killed by tribesmen led by a local chieftain named Lapu-Lapu. Before he died, Magellan baptized Lapu-Lapu’s rival, Rajah Humabon, as a Christian. The cross used in the baptism stands erect and is enshrined at a tourist spot named aptly as Magellan’s Cross in Cebu City. The “Battle of Mactan" where Magellan was killed was supposedly sparked by Lapu-Lapu’s refusal to convert to Christianity. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV