President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo considers Alyansa ng Pag-Asa presidential candidate Raul Roco "a worthy opponent" in the May 10 elections and welcomes his return from a medical checkup in the United States to resume his campaign.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye made this point in an interview with Radyo ng Bayan this morning.

Roco, who was stricken with prostate cancer in 1996, declined to disclose details on the findings of his American doctors. "Just leave me to my pain," he was quoted as telling reporters covering his return to the hastings.

Bunye said that he did not have any information on whether the President and Roco, a former senator and education secretary, had talked over the phone since his arrival in Manila Wednesday.

"Ipinagdarasal ng ating Pangulo ang paggaling ni Senator Roce at siya ay nagpahayag ng kagalakan sa pagbalik niya. Mukhang maayos naman siya. (The President prays for Senator Roco’s recovery, and she has already expressed elation over his return. He looks fine)," he said.

According to the Presidential Spokesman, the President believes Roco "is a worthy opponent" who campaigns on his program of government.

Bunye said that people would benefit from an issue-oriented method of campaigning as this would help them choose the right candidates in the upcoming elections.

Malacaņang today branded as misinformation charges by the opposition that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has overprinted more than two million excess ballots for the May 10 elections.

"That’s misinformation. They are putting meaning into the normal procedure of printing," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said this morning in a radio interview over DZRB.

The National Printing Office (NPO) has already explained this. They will make an allowance for spoilage to avoid having a shortage of ballots, which is a more difficult situation, Bunye said.

The NPO has been authorized by the Comelec to print elections materials necessary for the elections.

Moreover, the political parties have representatives who keep watch over the printing process everyday, Bunye emphasized.

"I believe the representatives of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) are also keeping track of the printing. What Sen. Ernesto Maceda is saying that these spoiled ballots will be recycled for other purposes cannot happen," Bunye said.

How can there be overprinting when they have people at the NPO, Bunye posed.

In the NPO Trends survey results, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had a 10.5-point percentage margin over KNP standard bearer Fernando Poe, Jr. Based on a voter turnout of 32 million, that translates into a 3.36 million margin in favor of the President.

President Gloria is proud to stand up for the working people with a Pro Poor Platform while our opponents can only sit down and print scurrilous newspaper ads at the expense of the poor.

The opposition can not fool the people with their full page paid ads which alternately use half truths or downright lies.

Malacanang today expressed sadness over the death of National Artist Nick Joaquin, saying his demise is a great loss to the nation and the Filipino people.

In his regular press briefing in Malacanang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that President Macapagal-Arroyo wishes to extend her deep condolences to the family of Mr. Joaquin.

"The President mourns the loss of Mr. Nick Joaquin. He is a national treasure and an asset for the Philippines," Bunye said. "He is a loss not only to the nation but to the world of literature."

Bunye said that the President also felt a deep sense of personal loss over his death because Mr. Joaquin has been a very good friend of the Macapagal-Arroyo family.

Nick Joaquin, who used the pen name "Quijano de Manila" in most of his essays, died of cardiac arrest in his home in San Juan, Metro Manila early Thursday morning.

He would have turned 87 on May 4.

Immediately before his death, Joaquin was the editor in chief of the Philippine Graphic and Philippine Mirror.

Conferred the National Artist Award in l976, Joaquin’s major literary works include "The Woman Who Had Two Navels," "Summer Solstice," and the "Portrait of the Artist as Filipino."

From siege leaders to GMA supporters.

Leaders and groups who stormed Malacaņang in the now infamous May 1 siege of 2001, are now vocal in their support of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her desire for clean, honest and peaceful elections on May 10.

Two days before the third anniversary of that unforgettable incident which many would like to call EDSA 3, leaders and members of the 5,000-member Katipunan ng mga Manggagawa sa Daungan (KAMADA) and the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) formally aired their support for the President in separate manifestoes.

The leaders of the two groups, namely, Norberto Reyes and Libertad Hidalgo, read, in ceremonies held at Malacaņang’s Rizal Hall, their manifestoes of support "for the good of the Filipino people, and the fact that we have realized her good governance."

"We have decided not to join disruptive elements and not to risk the future of our country. We are here to express our unity in supporting the President because of her experience and political will; who has been truly tested in serving our people and who has proven capability to grapple with, and solve, the country’s problems," they said.

Present during the rites were Secretaries Merceditas Gutierrez and Michael T. Defensor of the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) respectively; Manila Times Publisher Dante Ang; Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Director General Edgardo B. Aglipay; and Fernando Pasarin, leader of the EMS.

It would be recalled that supporters loyal to former President Joseph Estrada, who was deposed in a military–backed civilian uprising in January, 2001 launched that infamous siege of the Palace on Labor Day of 2001 to dramatize their protest over the arrest of their idol for plunder.

Coming all the way from EDSA where they staged a massive protest rally with the backing of several politicians, the Erap loyalists, mostly from the impoverished segment of society, stormed the gates of the Palace in their bid to overthrow the President and put Estrada back into power.

The timely intervention of the police and the declaration of a state of rebellion prevented things from going out of hand.

Several of the Erap fanatics were arrested, some of them even high on drugs.

The President immediately looked into the plight of the 60 members of the mob arrested by the police and ordered those found positive for drugs to be rehabilitated and those wounded brought to government hospitals.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today posthumously conferred the "Orden ni Lakandula," with the rank of Supremo (Grand Collar), on the late Senator Jose W. Diokno in simple ceremonies at the Rizal Hall of Malacaņang.

The Order of Lakandula is an order of political and civic merit awarded in memory of Lakandula’s dedication to the responsibilities of leadership, prudence, fortitude, courage and resolve in the service of one’s people.

The rank of Supremo or Grand Collar is conferred upon an individual who had suffered materially in order to preserve and defend the democratic way of life or the territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines.

Senator Joker Arroyo, who was one of those present during the awarding ceremonies, said the award for Diokno is a fitting tribute to him who fought the Marcoses.

Mrs. Carmen Icasiano Diokno, wife of the late senator, accepted the award from the President.

The President also conferred the Order of the Golden Heart, Rank of Grand Officer, to the late Sandra Burton, Time Magazine correspondent.

The Order of the Golden Heart gives official recognition to foreign citizens who have rendered distinguished services or given noteworthy monetary or other material aid, encouragement to the campaign for the amelioration and improvement of the moral, social and economic conditions of the Filipino masses and for volunteerism in the service of the Filipino masses.

Sandra Burton was conferred the Order of the Golden Heart with the rank of Grand Officer (Pinuno) for being a true friend of the Filipinos. Her works as a journalist endeared her to the Filipinos and inspired them in their fight for democracy.

Robert Delfs, Burton’s former lifetime partner and a former editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, accepted the posthumous award.