Win or lose, Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. is leaving his fate to “the will of the Lord.”

Speaking before a gathering of various groups supporting his presidential bid at the Laurel House in Mandaluyong City Friday, Villar expressed readiness to accept the verdict of the people on May 10.

Among those present in the gathering were members of the Bible Mode, Alliance of Baptist, and Evangelical Churches that have earlier expressed their support for Villar's candidacy.

During his speech, Villar once again talked about his dream of ending poverty in the country, the slogan his party has been carrying throughout the 90-day campaign period.

“To me, this is clearly what the Lord wants. But let me just say that the reason why (I’m) very cool and very relax despite recent developments (because) in the end, it would be the will of the Lord that will happen,” Villar said.

“Of course it’s not to say that I will win but whatever it is, whether I will win or not, that’s something that it’s ordinary for me to accept. And in fact, I will move on,” he said.

“Whether or not I can fulfill the dream, it’s up to our Lord now. I've already given my best shot in my firm belief that’s it’s what our Lord wants, this is what our people want,” he stressed.

However, Villar refused to back down easily from the fight, criticizing Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for assuming to be a devout person and his inability to govern the country.

Villar lamented why people seem to buy Aquino’s claim of being clean from any wrongdoing.

“What I know is that it’s only God, who is pure and to my surprise, our people are buying that again,” he said.

“Number one, God is the only one who is untainted. Two, it must be really true that you have no trace of any wrongdoing because you have literally done nothing,” Villar pointed out.

“How can you be stained when you don’t want to wallow in the mud? You’re not even a farmer, you live in an airconditioned (place), then that’s only natural that you don’t get stained,” he said.

In contrast, Villar said he and his family has always been active in church and is living a simple life.

He also said none of his children has been involved in drugs or any wrongdoings.

“Perhaps, you can say that I'm sour-graping (but) I'm just saddened by this,” he said.

Villar further bewailed Filipinos tendency to choose their leaders based on popularity rather than based on experience and track record.

Despite this development, Villar said he is confident he could still emerge the winner in Monday’s polls.

“Whatever happens, ako’y naniniwala na mananalo pa rin ako (I still believe I can win). I'm very confident,” he said which elicited cheers from the crowd.