MANILA – Administration party presidential candidate Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. will not engage in mudslinging or dirty tricks during the campaign period for the 2010 elections.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel’s The Big Picture on Thursday, Teodoro told anchor Ricky Carandang that not resorting to negative campaigning against other contenders will provide more political capital if he wins.
 
“If we are able to keep the conduct of the campaign on a level which will not degenerate into hurt or a division, that is a very important thing we will achieve.
 
He has the end in mind: “After you win, you will have to lead. You have to get people positive and upbeat to follow you.”

Typical dirty tricks during political campaigns include the leaking of damaging, or even false, information that cast serious doubts on their opponents’ qualifications or abilities. Most often, negative campaigns involve attacking the rivals’ personality, record, or opinion.

A negative campaign, he explained, would divide political leaders and the people in general, further complicating the task of governing a country already beset with social, economic, and political difficulties. 

“I believe that that’s not the way to go. That is not the way my administration will go,” he stressed.

“We need hope to prime them for a possible growth next year,” he added. 

He said that while he cannot dictate on his partymates at the Lakas-Kampi-CMD on their campaign style, “They should take off from my own view of things.”

To discourage them, his style will be to “set an example.”

The former defense secretary stressed that the political sphere “does not have a law enforcement agenda, but a motivating agenda.”

He believes that the presidential fora, where he is a staple and are organized by various groups, are “positive tools that we are developing to have that professional atmosphere.”