MANILA, Philippines ? Vice Presidential candidate Bayani Fernando gave away copies of his yet-to-be-released CD, "May BF Ka Na Ba? (Do you have a BF?), featuring nine original songs.

Fernando, the running mate of presidential bet and Senator Richard Gordon admitted on Tuesday that he tried his hand at becoming a celebrity. He was a champion of GMA 7's television singing competition "Celebrity Duets" in 2009.

He said he joined the contest to raise money and to draw in endorsements.

"Ako'y nagpilit mag-artista, para di kami bumayad. Kulang na lang kumain ako ng bubog [I tried to be in showbiz to raise funds and to ensure we won't spend as much from our own pockets... I did it, short of eating glass shards]," said Fernando at a press conference on Tuesday, at a fastfood restaurant along the South Luzon Expressway.

Senator Richard Gordon and former Metro Manila development chairman Bayani Fernando launched their official campaigning for president and vice president with a motorcade to Cavite on Tuesday.

At around 9 a.m., the Gordon-Bayani motorcade, running under the campaign tag "Transformers," assembled at the Petron station along the South Luzon Expressway in Muntinlupa.

The convoy of vehicles was visiting various towns and cities in the Cavite province before setting up in Imus for a kick-off rally on Tuesday afternoon.

Gordon, a former mayor of Olongapo City known for engineering the rebound of Subic Bay metropolitan area into an industrial hub after the departure of the US bases in 1992, and Fernando, a former Marikina City mayor who has bannered the city development as his campaign pitch, have been lagging in the popularity surveys. They, however, refused to be daunted by their pre-campaign poll numbers.