The country’s largest lay organization of Catholic men has clarified it is not endorsing any candidate in the May 9 elections.

The Knights of Columbus said it would not support any political bet as an organization, although individual members could actively engage in partisan politics “as part of our citizenship obligation”.

“The Knights of Columbus, as an organization, is not making an official endorsement of any candidate,” its leaders said in a statement issued Thursday.

“This is the stand of all four jurisdictions in our meeting, where all four state deputies were present, in order to avoid partisan division within our fraternal organization,” they added.

The clarification was made after a social media post claimed that the 400,000-strong organization endorsed the presidential bid of Leni Robredo and her running mate Kiko Pangilinan.

“This is not true,” according to them.

The brief statement was signed by its state deputies: Rene Sarmiento of Luzon North, Bonifacio Martinez of Luzon South, Teofrido Lagria of Visayas, and Gerry Eufemio Mission of Mindanao.

Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr., a member of the board of directors of the international Knights of Columbus, also approved the statement.