MALACAñANG on Friday denied that the administration’s presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II is withdrawing from the presidential race.
“Not on any agreement to withdraw,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement.
He made the statement after vice presidential candidate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday accused Malacañang and the camps of Roxas and Senator Grace Poe of hatching a conspiracy to bring down Rodrigo Duterte.
“I am confirming to you that there is a conspiracy [among] the Palace, Grace Poe and Mar Roxas,” Cayetano told reporters.
Cayetano said reliable sources had told him that Malacañang had met with representatives from the camps of Poe and Roxas to convince one of them to withdraw from the presidential race.
But he said the meeting was unsuccessful because no one wanted to withdraw from the race.
He said the Palace and the camps of Poe and Roxas were behind an advertisement against Duterte that was shown on television on Thursday and was paid for by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
Poe on Thursday denied she would be dropping out of the presidential race following the decline in her ratings in the recent surveys.
“Sa mga iba diyan na nagsasabi na dapat ay pagbigyan na lang ang iba para dalawa na lang ang naglalaban, sino ba sila para magsabi kung sino ang dapat piliin ng ating mga kababayan?” Poe said.
She said she will not enter any deal to withdraw from the presidential race.
“Hindi po tayo sindikato na makikipag-ayusan kahit kanino para mawalan ng opsyon ang ating mga kababayan,” Poe said.
“Hindi rin ito isang transaksyon para ibenta ang mga pangarap ng ating mga kababayan kaya para doon sa mga nagkakalat ng mga kuwento na ako ay susuko, isipin niyo kung ano ang pinagdaanan nating lahat.”
Poe said she had to set the record straight since she had recently been receiving reports and texts asking her to confirm if she had indeed withdrawn from the presidential race.
The neophyte senator had been the consistent front runner in the presidential race before being overtaken by Duterte in the pre-election surveys conducted in late March to early April.
Duterte has managed to retain his lead despite being hounded by controversies.