MANILA, Philippines?Some senatorial candidates of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD are grumbling over the administration party?s apparent lack of funds, two months before the May 10 national elections.

Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III and lawyer Raul Lambino pointed to the dearth of television and newspaper advertisements, and campaign posters for the candidates.

?We?re being out-postered by the opposition,? Bello rued in a phone interview, referring to the more popular reelectionist senators and congressmen topping the polls for senatorial candidates.

?We?re out-advertised. It?s as if we?re not running,? said Lambino, who initially denounced the Lakas-Kampi coalition then turned around and joined the slate as a substitute candidate.

Faring poorly

The two candidates are faring poorly in surveys.

Party secretary-general Francis Manglapus admitted the difficulty of raising funds from traditional sources, such as businessmen, because of the big number of senatorial candidates.

?This is the first time in a long time that you have so many candidates running for senator,? he said by phone.

?But there are funds, and they will come shortly,? he added.

He said the party had to exercise prudence in the allocation of funds among the national and local candidates, who comprise the machinery of the party.

?It?s a question of allocating resources accordingly. We have a high overhead cost because of all the candidates we have to support down to the mayors,? he said when asked if the party was running short of funds.

But Manglapus said the party would mount rallies once the campaign for local candidates starts on March 26 to save on costs.

No solid support

The party placed ads for each of the senatorial candidates on TV from late January to early February, but the two candidates said they were too infrequent to be noticed by the public.

Beyond this, there is ?no solid support? from the party for campaign materials for the senatorial slate.

?Party officials in the areas that I?ve gone to are not even aware that I?m running ? We don?t even have a group poster,? Lambino complained.

The other candidates are broadcaster Rey Langit, Mayor Ramon Guico of Binalonan, Pangasinan, and reelectionist Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Lito Lapid. The latter two, however, are doing well in the surveys.

The candidates conceded that the party did not promise anything to them, but said they expected party support for their campaign, as had happened in past senatorial elections.

?If they release support, well and good. If not, we make do with what we have,? Bello said. ?I don?t know if it?s coming at all. We?re not getting good signals.?

The candidates are mounting their own respective campaigns using their own resources.

?There?s no focus; there?s no direction,? he said, noting that Teodoro, Manzano and the senatorial candidates have not met as a group to strategize about the campaign since the Feb. 9 campaign kick-off. ?It?s going to be a very difficult road ahead,? Lambino said.