Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said on Monday she did not endorse any candidate in elections of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), showing full support of "whoever is elected", according to government officials.

Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that Arroyo "believes in genuine autonomy founded on the freedom of choice exercised by the people themselves."

The statement of Arroyo was in reaction to a newspaper report that she had engaged in patronage politics by endorsing a candidate of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats in the ARMM polls.

The ARMM polls opened at 7:00 a.m. Monday, with a total of 1,160,559 registered voters expected to vote in 8,213 precincts, the commission on elections said.

Source: Xinhua