MANILA, Philippines—Apparently fed up with forecasts that he would lose the presidential race, Sen. Richard Gordon went ballistic during a live interview Monday by taking potshots at rivals who are ahead of him in the surveys.

“Even if you put together the accomplishments of [Senators Manuel] Villar and [Benigno] Noynoy [Aquino III], they are nothing compared to what Gordon has done,” the Bagumbayan standard-bearer declared on “Headstart with Karen Davila” aired over ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC).

“Has Noynoy addressed the issues in Hacienda Luisita? So why is he running? Because Mommy died. Because Daddy died. So what? Are we voting on the basis of bloodline? Pedigree? Excuse me,” he fumed in Filipino and English.

Aquino, standard-bearer of the Liberal Party and consistent front-runner in presidential surveys, is the only son of the late President Corazon Aquino and former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., who is regarded by many as the fallen hero who fought the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Turning his attention to Villar, Gordon recalled that the Nacionalista Party presidential candidate promised to eradicate poverty.

“Excuse me, even Jesus Christ was not able to put a stop to poverty. [Villar] was Senate President, he was Speaker of the House [of Representatives]. Was he even able to begin the end of poverty?”

Gordon’s tirade began when news program host Davila read a comment from a viewer who said although Gordon was competent, he’s not going to win. (“Magaling siya, kaya lang hindi mananalo.”)

“What does that say about our people? If you don’t have principles, if you vote for the incompetent ones … It’s the fault of these stupid surveys,” he said.

Gordon vowed to go after Pulse Asia and the Social Weather Stations, whose regular updates on the presidential race always showed him a dismal fifth following Aquino, Villar, former President Joseph Estrada and former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

Then he trained his guns on Davila’s network, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.

“I’m asking ABS-CBN right now, why did you stop your presidential debates? Is it because Villar and Noynoy refused to participate? In America, when a candidate refuses to engage in a debate, it means he is hiding something. So when Villar walks out on a debate, that’s the same thing he’d do when he becomes president, when he is investigated just like [President] Gloria [Macapagal-Arroyo].”

Gordon said the network’s compliance with his leading rivals “shows lack of character, not just a tint of bias but a huge color of bias.”

He insinuated that the compliance could have stemmed from pressure from Aquino’s sister, Kris, who is among the most popular celebrities being handled by the network.

Gordon said it was also possible that the Lopez family that owns ABS-CBN would accommodate the Aquinos since it was during the time of President Aquino when it got back the station from the government.