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Mike Velarde
Mike Velarde
Title	Servant Leader
Personal life
Born	Mariano Zuniega Velarde; August 20, 1939 (age 85); Caramoran, Catanduanes, Republic of the Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Spouse	Avelina del Monte (m.1964)
Children	4
Religious life
Religion	Roman Catholic
Institute	El Shaddai
Profession	Real estate developer
Senior posting
Based in	San Dionisio, Parañaque, Metro Manila
Period in office	1984–present

Mariano Zuniega Velarde (born August 20, 1939), also known as Brother Mike Velarde, is a Filipino televangelist who is also the founder and "Servant Leader" of a Philippines-based Catholic charismatic movement called El Shaddai which has been estimated following of three to seven million.^[1]

He is also the owner of Amvel Land Development Corporation, a real estate company, and Delta Broadcasting System.

Personal life

Brother Mike is married to Avelina "Belen" del Monte^[2] and they have four children:^{[citation needed]} Franklin, Rene, Sherry and Michael. Velarde's son Rene Velarde, represents the Buhay party-list.^[3] His son, Franklin, is an investor in the Puyat-controlled Manila Bank.^[4]

His son, Mariano Michael Velarde Jr. was appointed deputy director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in 2019.^[5] He currently serves in the El Shaddai Movement as the assistant servant leader.

Theology

Bro. Mike began his involvement with Charismatic Christianity together with the late Russian-Filipino actor-turned-evangelist Ronald Remy who eventually founded the Corpus Christi Community, an Evangelical congregation now known as Lord Jesus Our Redeemer (LJOR) Church. Velarde, having experienced and having been exposed to the Charismatic movement, decided to remain within the Roman Catholic Church.^{[citation needed]} In 1984, he founded the El Shaddai movement^[1] which has become an eclectic expression of Philippine folk Christianity, the Charismatic movement and Roman Catholicism.^{[citation needed]} Velarde remains a layman within the Roman Catholic church.

His preaching style is no different from typical prosperity gospel-driven Pentecostal televangelists. It promises God's financial and physical blessings to all provided that they remain faithful in attendance to gatherings, giving their tithes and offerings, and obedience. Part of Velarde's practical theology is the use of certain inanimate objects such as handkerchiefs, bankbooks and umbrellas which are held aloft during services.^[1] Such practices are not foreign to Filipino indigenous and folk religion.^[1] Thus, Velarde's brand of Catholic Charismaticism is highly acceptable to a majority of Filipinos.^[6]^[7] Initially, Bro. Mike reports that only "the poorest of the poor" attended El Shaddai's services.^[1]