MANILA, Philippines?Malacañang Sunday sought to distance President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from Sen. Manuel Villar amid speculations that she was backing the Nacionalista Party?s presidential candidate instead of the administration?s own standard-bearer.

Gary Olivar, deputy presidential spokesperson, said Ms Arroyo remained a strong supporter of former Defense Secretary Gilbert ?Gibo? Teodoro, the presidential candidate of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD who remained at the bottom of recent surveys.

?She has every reason to know him and to support him,? Olivar said.

The Palace spokesperson advised the presidential candidates to leave Ms Arroyo out of the picture, arguing that she has her own campaign to run in the second congressional district of Pampanga.

?Please keep the Palace and the President out of the campaign,? he said.

?She is not campaigning for obviously that level and please do not run your campaign at her expense. Focus on the issues. Focus on each other. Do not drag the President into your own campaign,? he added.

The camp of former President Joseph Estrada Sunday said it was convinced that Ms Arroyo was supporting Villar.

?Definitely, I?m buying that argument,? former Sen. Ernesto Maceda, Estrada?s chief campaigner, told the Inquirer. ?I know of so many people identified or close to GMA (Ms Arroyo) who are now with Villar.?

Maceda cited Education Secretary Jesli Lapus who he said once gathered school officials to pledge support behind Villar.

In Batangas, the administration party is backing Villar?s candidate, former Gov. Armand Sanchez, in his bid to unseat incumbent Gov. Vilma Santos of Sen. Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III?s Liberal Party (LP).

But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who is running for Congress in the province, had said that the ?arrangement? to support Sanchez did not necessarily mean that he would support Villar in the national level.

Arroyo?s option

With the 2010 presidential election shaping up as a two-horse race between Villar and Aquino, it is inevitable that Ms Arroyo will throw her lot with Villar, said Florencio Abad Jr., LP campaign manager.

?In case the race is down to a mano-a-mano fight, and that seems to be where it is headed, Villar will be the only option for GMA (Ms Arroyo), especially if she wants to be a Speaker.?

But Reginald Velasco, Lakas-Kampi-CMD deputy secretary general, said Ms Arroyo remained ?100 percent? behind Teodoro?s presidential run. ?Till death do they part,? Velasco quipped.

Abad said that Villar ?by his actuation of not being critical of GMA has predisposed himself to this possibility (Villar-Arroyo alliance).? Since Aquino would not enter into a compromise agreement with Arroyo, Villar has become her last chance for power.
In a text message, Abad said that the LP would mount a more ?aggressive dissemination? of Aquino?s campaign slogan??Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap? (no corruption, no poverty)?with the start of the campaign season tomorrow.

?We will not match Villar?s spending but we will reawaken the people?s strong rejection of money and ?trapo? or traditional politics; and their aspirations for clean, decent and transparent and accountable governance,? he said.

Black propaganda

Abad noted that Villar had spent 10 times the P7 million that Aquino spent for television ads during the three-day survey period last month which the LP had traced as the reason for his spurt in the surveys.

He said the LP had opted to go for ?sharper, more frequent and sustained ads up to the end,? as well as depend on volunteer support through word-of-mouth and house-to-house campaigning.

Gilbert Remulla, Nacionalista Party spokesperson and senatorial candidate, challenged the LP to show evidence of its claim.

?There is absolutely no truth to the black propaganda they are spreading now that Senator Villar has tied or even overtaken Senator Aquino in the surveys. It reeks of desperation on their part,? Remulla told the Inquirer by phone.

?We challenge the Liberal Party, right now, if it?s possible for them to find in their political strategy to campaign positively instead of having a negative campaign,? he added. ?We are asking them for tangible proof instead of spreading rumors.?