A huge poster of the bespectacled Villanueva loomed over the stage with a prayer for God to enlighten the Philippines in the May 10 vote.
Bro. Eddie, as he is fondly called by his flock, is trailing last in the five-cornered race with President Arroyo in the lead closely followed by actor Fernando Poe Jr.
The huge crowd chanted "Bro. Eddie! Bro. Eddie!" as a techno beat blared on huge speakers. They carried slogans and posters calling on voters to choose Villanueva, who was wearing an immaculate barong shirt, his hair dishevelled after wading through the crowd.
Villanueva, who founded the Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide, was a former youth leader who incited university students to rise up against the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1960s. He later became a "born-again" Christian after spending a night in jail for leading strikers in his hometown of Bocaue, Bulacan.
He studied the Bible and took up speech classes, later enrolling in a United States-based school for television evangelism to spread his teachings.
In 1978, he bought a Manila television station to broadcast his message, creating a huge support base and winning over influential political figures.
Thousands of Villanueva’s supporters also held simultaneous rallies in the cities of Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Valencia, Bukidnon. These rallies were broadcast over Villanueva’s television network, Zoe TV 11.
At the Davao Rizal Park, less than 1,000 people attended the rally. Three giant screens had been set up for the crowd to view what was happening at the Manila rally.
BPM officials said the crowd at the Luneta rally reached more than 3.8 million, the largest political rally ever organized in Philippine history.
They said the miting de avance could have drawn a larger crowd if their request to hold it tomorrow or on Sunday had been granted by the local government.
Villanueva, however, announced that at 7:45 p.m., there were five million people at the rally and that his supporters gathered as far as Taft Avenue, about a kilometer away from the grandstand.
He predicted that if the rally lasts until 12 midnight, the crowd would reach 10 million.
But according to Western Police District-Tactical Operations Center (WPD-TOC) operator PO2 Eric Tolentino, there were "roughly a million" people who attended the rally.
"The crowd has not reached Taft Avenue. There are only 750,000 based on what we have monitored," WPD-TOC personnel Rafael Neri told The STAR.
The portion of Roxas Boulevard fronting the grandstand was closed to traffic at around 4 p.m. and a heavy gridlock hit Manila’s major thoroughfares as Villanueva’s supporters trooped to the venue.
The rallyists had used T. M. Kalaw Avenue, the Roxas Boulevard service road, and the sides of the grandstand to park their vehicles.
Among the speakers in the program, which lasted for eight hours, were Sultan Esmail Kiram II of Jolo, Sulu and Rodolfo Quizon Jr., the eldest son of comedian Dolphy.
The biggest surprise at the Manila rally was the appearance of actor Piolo Pascual, who endorsed Villanueva’s candidacy.
"I am doing this because I have fear of God," he said. "If you, too, have fear of God, you know that we have to change our government and the president."
In his speech, Villanueva urged his supporters to volunteer as poll watchers to counter the election fraud allegedly being plotted by some parties.
"Voting for change is not enough because certain unscrupulous sectors are plotting to cheat big-time," he said.
Villanueva also reiterated that his rallies have disproved pre-election surveys showing him trailing in the presidential race.
"But the real issue is not who’s on top or bottom of the surveys," he said. "The election is a chance for Filipinos to make a fresh start and discard the old system."
At the conclusion of his speech, he said no other presidential candidate can muster the number of people who gathered for the simultaneous rallies last night.
"With your support, you have just proven that the presidential race is now between the incumbent and me," he told his supporters.
Celebrities who have been supporting Villanueva’s candidacy — including Kuh Ledesma, Connie Reyes, Fanny Serrano, Chat Silayan and Carlo Orosa — were present during the program. Villanueva’s son, Joel, hosted the event with singer-actress Carla Martinez. Singer Gary Valenciano did a concert after Villanueva’s speech. — with reports from Edith Regalado, Evelyn Macairan, and AFP