Senators on Wednesday challenged Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo to name the opposition politician who allegedly secretly sought the endorsement of President Arroyo despite having criticized her and her administration’s policies enormously.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said that Arroyo should identify the politician whom he had described as a “presidentiable” bent on running for the highest government position in next year’s May 2010 election.

“Mikey (Arroyo) should identify these Trojan horses so we could punish them,” Pimentel, an opposition stalwart, said in a text message to reporters.

Sen. Francis Escudero, who has yet to declare his presidential bid, denied seeking President Arroyo’s endorsement.

“I have not sought, nor will I seek, the endorsement of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Nor have I authorized anyone to do so,” Escudero said in a statement.

“Let Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair Bayani Fernando, or Vice President Noli de Castro, or anyone else who might want her blessings, get that endorsement which they have been seeking from day one, for all I care,” Escudero said.

Should he decide to run for President, Escudero said he would only seek the endorsement of the Filipino people and will run as an opposition.

“I have been consistently against and questioned the mandate of this administration from the very start. I supported and was spokesperson of the late Fernando Poe, Jr. in the 2004 presidential elections; I led impeachment complaints against Arroyo in the House; voted consistently against the administration on major policy positions, i.e., the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), EVAT, and the Human Security Act,” Escudero said.

Escudero said “this vengeful administration” withheld the release of his Countryside Development Fund (CDF) since 2005.

“And now, its proxies have taken the debate over its performance in the past nine years down to the gutter by spreading intrigues against my person,” Escudero said.

“Kung palabas lang ang tira ko kay Pangulong Arroyo, eh bakit napipikon sa mga banat ko?” he added.

Senator Manuel Roxas II, considered one of the staunchest critics of the Arroyo administration and who disclosed plan to run for President in the election also denied having engaged in such “games.”