MANILA, Philippines?Keep your hanky in your pocket next time you meet Noynoy Aquino. And don?t wipe it on his face or on his shoes.

Speaking at Monday?s induction of new supporters in Quezon City, Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III described how he felt being ?mobbed? in a public appearance shortly after he declared his candidacy for president.

?It was at Baclaran that I first tasted what it is like to be mobbed,? he said.

?Some people who passed by me took out their handkerchiefs and wiped them on me. I thought there was something dirty on me but when I looked back at them, they were wiping themselves (with the hankies),? he added.

?I thought, isn?t that what people do to saints? But I am still alive.?

Take a deep breath

The lone son of the late former President Corazon Aquino narrated another incident while he was speaking on a stage at a rally in Bacolod City recently.

?When I walked near the edge, someone reached out and wiped my shoes. That really made me stop. In other words, this just shows how our people have accepted us,? the senator claimed.

?So now, when we go out of the car, we really have to take a deep breath. Because even if you just hold out your hand for a handshake, they?ll grab [your whole body] and pinch you. The last time someone did that to me, it was my father,? he added.

?When they get you, they won?t let go.?

A jab at Joker

Aquino spoke during the induction into the Liberal Party of Cavite Gov Erineo ?Ayong? Maliksi and several incumbent officials of the province. Maliksi used to be with the LP faction of Environment Secretary Lito Atienza.

More than 100 people were in the audience when Aquino spoke during the ceremony at the Balay Expo Center in Cubao, Quezon City.

?I hope (Senator) Joker (Arroyo) sees this. A Volkswagen is not enough,? Aquino said, referring to Arroyo?s joke that the LP faction supporting Aquino could fit into a Volkswagen Beetle.

Claiming his and his vice presidential candidate Sen. Mar Roxas?s public ratings ?have shot up and more are coming in,? he added: ?I advice Joker to buy more Volkswagen stocks.?

Cavite surveys

Maliksi said his informal surveys in Cavite showed that Aquino and Roxas were the choice of 60 percent of voters.

?I don?t want to promise anything but you just watch the (election) results, I think Cavite is going to carry Noynoy and Mar,? Maliksi said.

?Almost all of the incumbent mayors of Cavite are here. Out of 20 municipalities and three cities, we have two-thirds here, almost 100 percent of board members, and 80 percent of vice mayors,? he added.

In a press statement, the LP said the Osmeña clan?s political party in Cebu, Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan, had thrown its support behind the Aquino-Roxas ticket.

?Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, former Cebu Gov. Emilio Osmeña and former Senators John Hnery Osmeña and Serge Osmeña have set aside their political differences to back (Aquino and Roxas),? the statement said.

Differences patched up

In Bohol, the statement said, actor Cesar Montano has been designated the LP provincial chair and is running against incumbent Gov. Erico Aumentado for the province?s top executive post.

In Pangasinan, Rep. Victor Agbayani, who comes from a prominent political family in the province, will be the LP gubernatorial candidate, it said.

The statement also said the Guingonas and the Acostas of northern Mindanao had put aside their political differences, with Rep Teofisto Guingona III and former Bukidnon Rep. Nereus Acosta joining the LP?s ?People?s Coalition? senatorial slate.

Aquino said not everyone applying for LP membership would be accepted to make sure that no ?fair weather friends? got in.

Bicol visit

On Sunday, crowds wore yellow shirts and tied yellow ribbons around trees and posts along thoroughfares from the Albay towns of Polangui up to Daraga and Legazpi City, to welcome Aquino.

Aquino said the three main issues the next administration should address were job generation, education and health care.

?We are here ? to listen to the people,? he told the crowd at the St. Agnes Academy?s gymnasium in Legazpi.

Aquino was accompanied in the Albay sortie by his party?s senatorial candidates, including Acosta, Muntinlupa Rep. Rufino Biazon, Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros and Bukidnon Rep. TG Guingona.

Acosta, the LP vice president for Mindanao, spoke of the clamor of Filipinos for real change.

No answers from Noynoy

The broad concerns of Aquino and Acosta, however, sparked no enthusiasm in certain sectors, among them a farmers? group, which said they wanted to hear concrete programs for Bicol?s farmers who are into coconut farming.

Felix Paz, regional chair of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP-Bicol), said the coconut farmers wanted to know from Aquino what livelihood programs and other support mechanisms he had in mind that would directly help them.

Paz said there were no categorical answers from Aquino. With a report from Rey M. Nasol, Inquirer Southern Luzon