MANILA, Philippines – Cabinet officials, who cannot support the administration's standard-bearer in 2010, should "honorably" resign from their posts, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said on Tuesday.

Enrile's statement came a day after Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo threw his support for Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.

"That's addressed to the individual person, that if you can't support the administration's decision, then the only logical thing that you should do is honorably resign from the position as a member of the Cabinet," he said.

"If I were in his [Romulo] place, if he can't support my President because it reflects on the President, then I have to resign from the Cabinet. That's addressed to Mr. Romulo, to his wisdom," he said.

Enrile said Romulo's public support for Aquino indicated that the administration was divided over its choice of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro as its standard-bearer.

"That shows there's division in the administration. Some members of the Cabinet are not supporting what are perceived to be the candidate of the administration," he further said.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel-Zubiri said he would leave the issue of resignation to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Romulo as he called on Cabinet members to either remain apolitical or mum on their choice of candidates.

"Well, the Cabinet at this point in time, should be apolitical. They should stick to their jobs. Alam mo, lahat ng Cabinet officials kung magagawa nga nating apolitica, mas maganda para sa ganun hindi malagyan ng kulay ang ginagawa nila from now to June 30 of 2010 [You know, if all Cabinet officials could be apolitical, that’s better so that their functions won’t be colored from now to June 30 of 2010]," said Zubiri in a separate interview.

"So I'd rather that they would be mum on their decisions whether to support the [candidate] of the President unless they would like to go and campaign all out for their candidates," he said.

Zubiri admitted that Aquino's entry into the presidential race was a "game changer" and everyone should not be embarrassed to make public their decisions.

His only appeal, however, was for Cabinet members to clear their position so as not to embarrass the President and compromise the administration group.

"Our request is for you to make your decision known, make it public, make it clear as to who your candidate would be so that the party won’t be compromised,” Zubiri said in Filipino.