The President told Malacañang reporters yesterday that although she would help in promoting the 13 candidates of her administration, she prefers to focus on the more pressing problems of government.
"I have a very serious problem of governance. Somebody has to take care of the store and I will do that. That’s my main responsibi-lity," she said.
Mrs. Arroyo officially sent off the 13 PPC candidates on Monday by raising their hands before they filed their certificates of candidacy with the Commission on Elections.
The 13 are Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo, former Bureau of Internal Revenue chief Liwayway Vinzons Chato, former Bulacan Gov. Roberto Pagdanganan, former Economic Planning chief Solita Monsod, Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto, Bohol Rep. Ernesto Herrera, Quezon Rep. Wigberto Tañada, former House Speaker Manuel Villar, lawyer Francis Pangilinan, and re-electionist Senators Franklin Drilon, Juan Flavier, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., and Sergio Osmeña III.
The President refused to make a prediction on who among the 13 would make it to the top 12 of the senatorial race. Although she promised to appear in some parts of the campaign, Mrs. Arroyo categorically stated that she would remain in the background and concentrate on her job as Chief Executive.
"They’re all good," she said. "They don’t really need me."
For his part, Guingona said the PPC will work on a national theme that is focused on the "lessons of people power II" that led to the ouster of President Joseph Estrada last month.
"The theme will be accountability, that of gobyerno para sa serbisyo, hindi para sa negosyo (government for service, not for business)," he said. "This is the message we will be bringing to the people and we believe they will respond positively."
Meanwhile, the head of the Liberal Party sees a tougher battle for some candidates of the opposition who are still closely identified with Estrada.
Rep. Florencio Abad of Batangas pointed out that re-electionist Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Juan Ponce Enrile and Gregorio Honasan will have to explain to voters why they refused to
open an envelope containing potentially damaging evidence against the ousted leader in his impeachment trial last month.
Abad also noted that other candidates such as former Philippine National Police chief Panfilo Lacson, former Executive Secretary Edgardo Angara, and former First Lady Luisa Ejercito will be haunted by the "Erap baggage" and "Erap issues."
Abad added that militant groups are expected to go all-out criticizing the said senatorial hopefuls.
"These groups will not only campaign for administration candidates. They will also campaign against Erap candidates," he said.