Candidates began campaigning Tuesday in a wide open race for the presidency, with voters looking for a clean face after the scandal-plagued administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The latest opinion poll shows two opposition lawmakers are neck-and-neck for the May 10 presidential election, but analysts say it is too early to establish a two-horse race because voters have yet to hear detailed policies from the candidates. A Pulse Asia survey last last month pointed to a tight race between Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, son of the country's revered democracy icon, Corazon “Cory” Aquino and billionaire lawmaker Manuel “Manny” Villar. The independent poll, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, show the two are statistically tied with 37 percent for Aquino and 35 percent for Villar. The ruling party's standard-bearer, former defense chief Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro and former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada, known to have a solid base among the rural poor and slum dwellers, could both pull a surprise and improve their ratings. Estrada had a rating of 12 percent in the Pulse Asia survey while Teodoro was at 4 percent. The campaign started as religious leaders expressed alarm over reports that Villar, the Nacionalista Party standard bearer, is President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's secret candidate in the May 10 elections. “If it were true, it could be a sinister plot to ensure Arroyo's perpetuity in power. So it is an evil deal,” Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes said in a radio interview. “Filipino politics has many mysteries, which shows what kind of officials we have and why we are like this,” Caloocan Bishop Deogracias I?iguez said in the same radio program. “As I envisioned a month ago, Arroyo is scared of lawsuits. She wants to stay in power. Let us pray for her,” said Koronadal City Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez. Last week, Aquino said Arroyo and Villar had entered into an “unholy alliance,” noting that Arroyo's top aides recently thanked Villar for keeping quiet on issues confronting Arroyo. Villar has allegedly agreed to help Arroyo, who is running for representative in the second district of Pampanga, become House Speaker and protect her from suits once he becomes president. Villar's camp has vehemently denied Aquino's accusations, saying such an alliance would be a “kiss of death.” Malaca?ang also dismissed the allegations. Saturday, text messages circulated that Villar met with First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo at the house of Arroyo ally Mike Defensor on Jan. 7. Villar denied it. Ronald Holmes, political science professor and president of Pulse Asia Inc, said dramatic changes in voters' preferences can be expected during the campaign period. “It's still very fluid because most voters have not really absorbed the candidates' messages,” Holmes said, adding poverty, corruption, joblessness and high prices of basic commodities are among the main issues that resonate with the electorate. Party affiliations have historically counted for little in the Philippines, and policies have mattered less than personalities. Presidential campaigns are expensive and rely on rich families and companies – who would expect quid pro quos. Villar, outspending his rivals even before the start of the campaign period by buying millions of pesos worth of airtime on TV and radio, has the momentum based on the latest opinion poll, but that is no guarantee he will dominate the elections. Candidates are expected to sing and dance on makeshift stages along with movie and TV personalities during political rallies in the next three months across the archipelago of 7,100 islands to gain people's attention before revealing their campaign promises. More than 50 million Filipinos are choosing a new president, vice president, about 300 lawmakers in the two-chamber Congress and more than 17,600 local government positions in the country's first nationwide automated elections on May 10.
