BAGUIO CITY, Philippines ? Presidential aspirants heeded city officials? plea to steer clear of the 15th Panagbenga (Baguio Flower Festival) over the weekend but no politician could simply ignore the thousands of festival spectators who crammed the summer capital.

Busloads of tourists from nearby provinces, Metro Manila and Southern Luzon arrived at the same time as the campaign caravans of presidential candidates Manuel Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party), Gilbert Teodoro Jr. (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) and Richard Gordon (Bagumbayan).

The candidates managed to keep a low profile during the festival?s street dancing parade on Saturday and the floral floats parade on Sunday.

But when the parade ended on Sunday, it was free for all for senatorial candidates and supporters of the NP, Lakas-Kampi-CMD, Bagumbayan and Ang Kapatiran Party, who pressed flesh and distributed campaign leaflets.

Villar was expected to join the float parade aboard an entry of his company, Camella Homes, but he and the NP?s senatorial candidates decided to walk along downtown Baguio at 11 a.m., an hour after the last floral float rolled down the street, to take advantage of the crowd.

Supporters of AKP standard-bearer John Carlos ?JC? de los Reyes, who wore plastic carnival masks, also marched downtown distributing flyers.

Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. said the city government informed the candidates that Baguio residents and festival spectators will not treat them kindly had they used the street dancing and floral floats parades to campaign.

Anthony de Leon, festival chair, said the Lakas-Kampi-CMD group had been seeking permission to join the floats by marching down the street. ?I kept telling them, ?No way,?? he said.