'Don't kiss me, I'm the President'

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has warned overzealous male fans and supporters to stop kissing her.

"I am conservative. I do not want to be kissed by any man but my husband," she said in Laguna province, south of Manila.

Arroyo often receives kisses on both cheeks by unknown admirers in a practice called "beso-beso" ("kiss-kiss").

Now, Arroyo says she will only accept smackers from her husband, lawyer Jose "Mike" Miguel.

"Please, all the men in the country, so that I won't be rude to you, do not attempt to kiss me," she said in a statement carried live on nationwide TV.

During a visit to meet Filipino workers in Kuwait last year, one of Arroyo's female bodyguards shoved away a man who approached the president with his lips puckered and ready to plant a kiss on her cheek.

A picture of the man's foiled advance was published by many local newspapers.

The presidential palace then announced that no one should ever try to claim a smacker from Arroyo, who is always protected by her troop of bodyguards.