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By By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press â€" 1 hour ago 


MANILA, Philippines (AP) â€" Filipino Catholic groups launched a campaign Monday to try to muster millions of votes for senatorial candidates who opposed a controversial contraceptives law passed last year and prove that the church remains a force to be reckoned with in Asia's largest Catholic nation.

Catholic leader Mike Velarde said his El Shaddai group and dozens of other lay organizations are joining together to campaign in the May 13 midterm elections for pro-church candidates who could battle possible future legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, divorce and abortion.

The groups could deliver up to 6 million votes in about 3,000 Catholic communities across the country, enough to ensure the electoral victory of pro-church candidates who are vying for 12 of 24 Senate seats in next month's elections, Velarde said. The new movement wants to prove that the influential Catholic church's clout remains formidable, he said.

"The Catholic church is not dead," Velarde told a news conference. "It is alive; it has power."