If the so called "Villarroyo" is being attached to the candidacy of Nacionalista Party (NP) standard bearer Sen. Manny Villar by his political detractors, the NP believes there is more truth to the secret alliance of President Arroyo and Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III which they dubbed as "Gloriaquino.”

According to NP spokesman and senatorial candidate Adel Tamano, the "Gloriaquino" candidacy is getting clear now after Senator Aquino himself admitted voting against the playing of the controversial  "Hello Garci" tapes in 2005 when the issue was being investigated at the Lower House.

Aquino at that time was still an ally of President Arroyo, Tamano said.

“As shown in his actions in the past, Aquino can indeed compromise his ideals for political gains. What we don’t need now in Malacañang is another self-righteous hypocrite who can easily swallow his pride if he needs to,” Tamano said in a press statement.

As the election campaign heats up, the NP and LP have began engaging in mudslinging.
Aquino and Villar are the leading contenders for the presidential race based on the surveys by different survey firms.

Since the start of the campaign, the LP bombarded the NP camp with “Villaroyo” allegations that Villar is being supported secretly by President Arroyo.

Villar and his allies strongly denied the allegation with the declaration that the NP is the true opposition since the party spearheaded the investigation of several scandals including the multi million dollar ZTE/NBN deal, the “jueteng” controversy and the multi-million peso fertilizer scam.

Tamano said that during a television interview, Aquino admitted voting against playing the Garci tapes during the congressional hearings in 2005 headed by NP senatorial candidate and then Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla.

Tamano recalled that then Representative Aquino stated the Hello Garci audiotape was the “fruit of the poison tree” in justifying his vote.

“Secrets do have a way of getting out. It is now apparent that Aquino's efforts to position himself as the opposition candidate was merely a smokescreen to hide the truth – that he is the real Malacanang bet," Tamano said.

"In admitting his folly five years back, he again committed hypocrisy by claiming that his reasons for voting against the tapes were legal in nature, when in fact he was the House Deputy Speaker for Luzon at that time, thanks to President Arroyo,” he said.

“He also conveniently forgot to mention that it happened at a time when his family was still supporting President Arroyo coming from the 2004 presidential elections," Tamano said.

Tamano said that Aquino’s “No” vote was made at the fifth congressional hearing on the Garci tape issue on June 30, 2005, or three days after Arroyo’s televised "I am sorry" speech.

“His ‘No’ vote went against a sea of ‘Yes’ votes and yet he proclaims himself as incorruptible without batting an eyelash. Baka tamaan ka ng kidlat, Noynoy,” Tamano said.

“He cannot even admit that at the time, President Arroyo was his and his family’s most influential political patron. In a sense, his popularity as a political personality was partly because of Mrs. Arroyo’s confidence in his political talents.”

He said NP stalwarts had spearheaded congressional investigations into scandals that rocked the Arroyo administration.

“As such, we stand by our declaration that we are the true political opposition and no other. Let us all remember that Noynoy Aquino voted against hearing the Garci tapes,” Tamano said.