MANILA (UPDATED) - Malacañang said the administration was not referring to the skin complexion of Vice President Jejomar Binay when Liberal Party President Joseph Emilio Abaya reportedly said that election is a battle between black and white.

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Abaya was just using a metaphor to highlight the difference in the positions taken by the ruling coalition and Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

"With due respect to Vice President Binay, there is no allusion to his complexion. We never intended to make an issue of color. It is a metaphor that we commonly use to highlight the difference between one advocacy over the other. That's the purpose of the statement of Jun Abaya and we hope that the Vice President will not take it any other shape, form, or manner," Lacierda said.

Binay told reporters today: “Ito'y labanan ng black ang white? Ingatan mo...'yung ating mga kababayang Ita nasaktan 'di ba. Pati nga ako, 'ipinagmamalaki ko itong brown race...hindi ko nga alam sa'n nanggaling 'yung black and white na 'yan eh.”