MANILA, May 9 (Xinhuanet) -- After three months of exchanging tirades, all the five presidential candidates kneeled and prayed together at a Manila church on the eve of election day for honest,peaceful and credible elections on Monday.

    Incumbent Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, movie star Fernando Poe Jr.,Senator Panfilo Lacson, former Education Secretary Raul Roco and evangelist Eddie Villanueva attended a "unity mass" at the San Agustin Church, the first time the five presidential bets gathered under one roof since the campaign period started in February.

    In a prayer read for the "Holy Mass for Peace and Credible Elections," the five presidential candidates sought guidance so they could accept with humility whatever was the outcome of the May 10 polls.

    "Grant us, O Lord, the perfect expression of the people's will in this election. Let no one dare to substitute with one's own thevoice of the people that is also yours," the prayer said.

    "Give me the humility to accept the true outcome whether it goes for or against me so that defeat be glorified by grace and victory be tampered with modesty," it added.

    The last survey conducted by independent pollster Social Weather Stations from May 1 to 4 showed that 37 percent of the correspondents would choose Arroyo for the presidency, compared to30 percent for her main challenger Poe, 11 percent for Lacson 11, 6 percent for Roco, and 4 percent for Villanueva.

    The Philippine constitution bars a president from reelection, but Arroyo, who succeeded Joseph Estrada who was ousted in a military-backed popular uprising in January 2001, is not covered by the ban because she is finishing out Estrada's term and was not voted into office.

    Worries of fraud and rising violence have been aired, with the administration and opposition camps accusing each other of planning to cheat in the polls.

    Last week, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales accused the opposition of conspiring with elements of the military to cause massive and violent disruption with the aim of bringing downthe government, an allegation denied by the opposition.

    This year's general elections are the bloodiest since 1992. Themilitary said Sunday that as of Friday, 92 people, including 29 candidates, have been killed and 148 others wounded in poll-related violence. Saturday saw another four killed and four injured.

    In the 1992 general elections, 56 people were killed and 138 wounded while the 1998 polls saw 87 killed and 167 wounded.

    Elections in the Philippines are often marred by violence, particularly at local levels where some politicians maintain gangsof armed followers who threaten and intimidate political rivals and their supporters.

    Authorities said earlier that almost all the field units of the113,000-strong military and some 80,000 policemen, or two-thirds of the police force, will be deployed nationwide to ensure the peaceful and orderly conduct of the elections.

    In Metro Manila alone, the government has already deployed 17,000 soldiers and policemen with 20,000 more troops on standby.

    In Monday's elections, the country's some 43 million voters areeligible to select a president, vice-president, half of the 24 senators, all members of the House of Representatives, and more than 17,000 local elective posts from provincial governor to town councilor. Enditem