MANILA, Philippines?A week after the elections, an incredulous Sen. Richard Gordon still could not believe he got less than half a million votes in his run for president.

But he would do it all over again if given the chance, even with the knowledge that he would lose again.

In the pre-election surveys, Gordon placed fifth in a field of nine, a slot ahead of Eddie Villanueva. He actually fell farther down to sixth in the Commission on Elections tally after the May 10 balloting.

?Quite frankly, I thought I had more votes than 450,000. I just can?t believe it but if that?s the vote, that?s the vote. I?m willing to accept it,? Gordon said in his thanksgiving party for volunteers, supporters and close friends in Taguig City on Monday night.

Still, Gordon thought he won. He felt that he and his running mate Bayani Fernando, former chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, made the elections ?more qualitative.?

?We had a platform. We did not engage in all kinds of antics. We tried to make it what an election must be?about issues, platforms, track record and integrity,? he said.

What might have been

As mayor, Gordon transformed Olongapo, the liberty town outside the former US Subic Bay Naval Base, and the American facility itself from the devastation wrought by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 into one of the country?s most progressive cities.

Bayani had a similar record. As mayor, he turned Marikina from a backwater into a modern urban center. As Metro Manila chair, he eased horrendous traffic jams and cleaned up the main thoroughfares.

The 65-year-old senator said he could have easily sought reelection for a new six-year term.

Surveys to blame

?Looking at those proclaimed, I could have easily done that,? Gordon said, referring to the winners in the Senate race.

Gordon blamed popularity surveys for his election defeat, saying they conditioned the minds of the voters.

?It didn?t mean people don?t respect me,? he told his cheering supporters. ?Before, it was just about money. These days, the new enemy is the survey.?

?There was no good that came out of surveys except that they were used as a propaganda weapon by those who paid for them,? he added.

?I knew I was going to lose because the mind-set brought about by the surveys cannot be reversed. When I ran, of course, I wanted to win. But I knew it was going to be an uphill climb. I had very little money, but I said if I don?t try, I would never be true to myself,? Gordon said.

Case for damages

The senator said the outcome of the last elections had pushed him all the more to pursue the case for damages he had filed against Social Weather Station and Pulse Asia Inc.?the survey firms that regularly released findings that showed him fifth in the presidential race.

?My case continues. I will prove that those who paid [for the surveys] always got higher than those who did not pay. It cannot be said that I was weak-kneed and I did not do the right thing,? Gordon said.