BY EFREN L. DANAO Senior Reporter

“Villaroyo” is a concoction of the spin doctors of the Liberal Party (LP) to destroy the credibility of Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., Rep. Satur Ocampo said on Friday.

Ocampo added that Villar is not the secret candidate of President Gloria Arroyo, contrary to claims supposedly made by the LP.

He probably was the first candidate from the Nacionalista Party to publicly accuse the Liberal Party of being behind the Villaroyo issue.

“The strategy to erode and malign the credibility of the NP standard-bearer is also in line with their efforts to deflect the public’s attention from the LP’s own standard-bearer’s inherent weaknesses as a public servant,” Ocampo said, referring to Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd.

Pulse Asia said that the dip in the popularity of Villar in its latest survey could have been caused by the LP concoction.

Ocampo, an NP guest senatorial candidate along with his Makabayan Coalition partner Rep. Liza Maza, said that they would not have joined the NP ticket if they believed that Villar has ties with President Arroyo.

“Our alliance with Sen. Villar also has to do with our common stand against the corruption of the [Arroyo] presidency. We would have immediately reconsidered our alliance if he had agreed to any form of cooperation with the Arroyos,” he added.

Earlier, the Magdalo group headed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th endorsed Villar after getting the pledge of Villar not to ally himself with the Arroyo administration.

Ocampo said that he found it “most disappointing” that the LP was still resorting to old-style name-calling and mud-slinging despite its declaration that the Liberal Party and its standard-bearer are “harbingers of change.”

“This also has to do with the undeniable truth that [Aquino] has no genuine platform of government to present. His track record has shown a mostly blank slate, hence the LP has not much to work on,” he added.

Ocampo urged the LP to rethink its strategy and stick to issues if only to live up to its declaration of being harbingers of change.