Philippines presidential hopefuls refuse campaign backing

Three rivals of Philippine presidential candidate Leni Robredo refused to back her campaign Sunday, blaming speculation that they would withdraw from the race to improve her chances of defeating the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Voter surveys show Robredo is a distant second behind Marcos Jr, but a recent bump in the polls and huge crowds at her rallies has raised hopes among her fervent fans that the campaign is gaining traction.

There has been speculation that worse performing candidates were considering pulling out and endorsing Robredo, the incumbent vice president and only woman in the race -- to make sure Marcos Jr was defeated in the May 9 elections.

But in a vitriolic press conference on Sunday, Francisco Domagoso, Panfilo Lacson and Norberto Gonzales - who are in single digits or less - accused Robredo of trying to get them to withdraw and strip them of support.

Each of us will continue our presidential campaigns, said Domagoso, a celebrity mayor, at a luxury hotel in Manila.

I'm calling for Leni to withdraw because whatever you're doing is not effective against Marcos. Analysts said it was not clear how many votes Robredo would gain from their exit in the raucous democracy where voter decisions were driven by personality rather than ideology.

Cleve Arguelles, an assistant professor of political science at De La Salle University in Manila, said their backing would have energised her campaign.

He told AFP that it would send a strong signal to the other campaign that she has gained a new momentum.

There is no runoff in Philippine presidential elections, with the victor only having to win more votes than everyone else.

Lacson accuses Robredo of lying, claiming she had previously told him that she would not run for president. He also claimed she had exaggerated the crowd size at a recent rally.

He said that you deceive once, you deceive twice, you will deceive all the time.

Domagoso, the top second choice for president in the Pulse Asia survey, said the polls were polluted and questioned their accuracy.

The candidates said that their rival, Manny Pacquiao, who was not at the gathering, was also on board with their decision.

A member of Pacquiao's team tweeted that the boxing legend would never quit the presidential contest.

Barry Gutierrez, a spokesman for Robredo, accused the three candidates of theatrics and asserted their positions through bluster and falsehood. He did not respond to AFP's question about whether Robredo had asked the candidates to pull out.

Tony La Vina, a political analyst, said that their decision to stay the course could help Robredo.

He told AFP that they take more votes away from Marcos than they do from Robredo.

More than 18,000 posts are up for grabs in the national elections, from president to town councillor.

Robredo, who narrowly defeated Marcos Jr in the 2016 vice-presidential race, reluctantly entered the contest after pressure from supporters and opposition groups.

Marcos Jr was boosted by a formidable alliance with the first daughter and vice-presidential candidate Sara Duterte and a massive misinformation effort on social media.