Liberal Party vice presidential bet Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II Friday clarified that he once asked Senator Loren Legarda if she can just support his tandem with Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III in the May elections only because he could not believe the rumors at the time that she was going to team up with Nacionalista Party (NP) standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr.

Roxas pointed out during an interview over radio station DZBB that he did not make any offer in exchange for her support when he approached Legarda while the Senate was still in session late last year.

“I couldn’t believe that she (Legarda) would seriously ally herself with Villar after all she told us — her fellow senators — about him. (Not after) what she said about Villar being corrupt, that he had no leadership, and how she rallied us to push for Villar’s replacement as Senate president,” Roxas claimed.

Roxas said Legarda was one of the senators who voted to oust Villar as Senate president and replace him with Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.

Roxas said his colleagues in the Senate can support this claim.

“You can call them up and they will stand by my statement that she only had negative remarks with regards to Villar,” Roxas claiming, giving program host Mike Enriquez a list of phone numbers of his fellow senators.

Legarda, who belongs to the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), was left without a running mate after her party’s prospective standard bearer, Senator Francis Escudero, left the party.

Legarda and Villar eventually formally announced their political partnership on Nov. 17.