Escudero shrugs off decline in surveys: ‘Hard to know winner in last 2 minutes’

The vice presidential aspirants are (clockwise from top left) Senator Francis Escudero, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Representative Leni Robredo, Senator Gregorio Honasan, Senator Antonio Trillanes and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. INQUIRER FILES

CITY OF CAUAYAN — The stage is set for a minority president and vice president, according to vice presidential bet and Senator Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero, who trailed Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., and Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo in the past three survey results of the ABS-CBN Pulse Asia and Social Weather Station.

“The truth is it is too hard to know who will win in these (presidential and vice presidential) races,” he said here Tuesday.

Escudero and presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe were in Isabela for speaking tours in Santiago City, the Isabela State University-Main Campus in Echague town, and the University of La Salette in Santiago City.

Speaking at a news conference, Escudero likened the campaign’s last days as “more than the last two minutes” of a basketball game. He said the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. was lagging behind then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the surveys during the 2004 elections, but Poe received more votes had “magic [not] robbed him of his victory.”

In 2010, Mar Roxas was leading in surveys for vice president but he was defeated by Vice President Jejomar Binay, the senator said.

In the ABS-CBN Pulse Asia survey from Apr. 12-17, 2016, Marcos got 29 percent, Robredo was at 23% and Escudero was at 20%.  But in the Social Weather Station survey from April 18-20, Robredo was at 26 percent, Marcos was at 25%, putting the two at a statistical tie.  Escudero was again third at around 18%.  In the latest Pulse Asia Survey from Apr. 16-20, Marcos was at 29%, Robredo at 24% and Escudero at 18%.  SFM