Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
LUCBAN, Quezon – Vice President Jejomar Binay on Maundy Thursday afternoon joined the annual throng of devotees to the “Kamay ni Hesus” (KNH) shrine here, popular ‘healing’ priest Fr. Joey Faller said Friday.
Faller said Binay spent some moments inside the KNH “healing church”.
The Vice President later mingled with devotees inside the complex for about an hour before he left, the priest said.
“Vice President Binay was so at home with the devotees. He gladly joined the pilgrims in their ‘wefies’ (group photo shoot),” Faller said.
READ: VP Binay’s Holy Week destination: Mt. Banahaw
The religious compound kept its gate open all day and all night on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. On regular days, the shrine is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. only.
When asked if Binay asked for a special prayer from the charismatic healing priest, quoting the Vice President, Faller said: “Kung anuman ang kalooban ng Diyos ay maganap at makayanan niya ang hinihingi ng Diyos at mga tao.”
(That the will of the Lord will be done, and that he will be able to do what God and the people ask of him.)
Binay has long declared his intention to run as President in the coming 2016 election under the banner of the political opposition.
Faller said he was surprised to learn that Binay will again visit the shrine. He said he only learned of Binay’s visit Tuesday night.
“Though Maundy Thursday last year, the Vice President was also here,” the priest said in an interview here.
The Vice President arrived at the shrine in the company of Quezon Governor David Suarez and unseated Laguna Governor ER Ejercito, the priest said.
President Aquino has yet to visit the shrine, Faller said.
The five-hectare shrine located in the village of Tinamnam at the foot of mystical Mount Banahaw is one of the popular Holy Week destinations in the country.
Faller, believed by pilgrims to possess a gift from God to cure the sick, is the administrator of the shrine which is under the supervision of the Diocese of Lucena.
Before his Lucban pilgrimage, Binay also joined the annual trek of Lenten pilgrims to Mount Banahaw in Dolores, Quezon on Thursday morning.
Binay paid homage to Isabel Suarez, founder of the religious cult “Suprema Dela Iglesia Del Ciudad Mystica De Dios” in the village of Sta. Lucia located at the base of Banahaw.
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