Speaking for the first time on the issue, administration party presidential bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Tuesday dismissed as "political gossip" allegations of an âunholy alliance" between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr., saying that the issue is only part of âspin tactics" of other political groups. Teodoro, official standard-bearer of the Arroyo-chaired Lakas-Kampi-CMD party, said he does not feel âinsecure" about the viral innuendos that Mrs. Arroyo is supporting Villar instead of him because he is confident of his whole partyâs backing. ââYan ay political tsismis lamang. Panahon ng pulitika e. Pero ako, hindi ako nai-insecure sa mga tsismis na âyan, dahil ako, binebenta ko ang aking sarili at ang aking partido," he said during his interview with broadcast journalist Mike Enriquez on the radio program "Ikaw Na Ba? The Presidential Interviews" aired over radio dzBB Tuesday morning. "At the end of the day, ako ang kandidato." [Listen to the full interview here.]
Administration party presidential bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. laughs off and dismisses as "political gossip" allegations of a Villar-Arroyo alliance to win in the upcoming May polls in a dzBB interview with Mike Enriquez aired Tuesday morning. Andreo Calonzo
In the same interview, Teodoro even said that Mrs. Arroyo has been giving him suggestions on how to handle his candidacy. âOnce in a while,
nagmumungkahi sâya... Pero nasa sa akin âyun. Hindi na ako batang maliit (One in a while, she makes suggestions, but I still have the final say on things. I am not a little kid anymore)," he said. Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III insinuated early this month that the Arroyo administration and Villarâs camp are forming an âunholy alliance" to win in the May polls and presumably to protect the President and her family from prosecution after her term ends. [See:
Noynoy sees âunholy allianceâ between Palace and Villar] Aquino and Villar are neck-and-neck front runners in recent surveys, while Teodoro is a distant fourth with consistently single-digit ratings in presidential preference polls. Both the camps of Mrs. Arroyo and Villar have denied the allegations of a secret deal, saying that these are just rumors commonly spread during the political season. Malacañang officials have also said that the President still supports Teodoro.
- HGS, GMANews.TV