Duterte belittles senatorial ‘survey front-runners’

President Rodrigo Duterte. (AP File Photo/Aaron Favila)

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday belittled survey front-runners in the 2019 senatorial midterm elections as he pushed for administration candidates, who still could not make it to so-called “Magic 12” in different surveys.

Duterte lamented the results of surveys in a speech during his former political adviser Francis Tolentino’s birthday celebration in Tagaytay City.

“I do not have to derogate others but these survey front-runners, my goodness. We have dedicated people here, knowledgeable, attorneys,” he said in his first public appearance for the year, as he made a pitch for his former Cabinet officials, who are gunning for a Senate seat in the upcoming May elections.

The President did not name names but in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll, re-electionist Senators Cynthia Villar and Grace Poe topped the senatorial survey.

READ: Villar, Poe lead latest SWS Senate race survey

Former Senator and now Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano, and re-electionist Senators Sonny Angara and Nancy Binay shared third to fifth places.

Actor and former Senator Lito Lapid placed sixth followed by former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III and former Senator Jinggoy Estrada were tied at eighth and ninth places.

Former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas landed at 10th followed closely by Ilocos Governor Imee Marcos, while re-electionist Senator JV Ejercito was at 12th spot.

In the same survey, Tolentino, an administration candidate, tied at 17th and 18th places with former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

Former Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go placed 14th to 15th, tying with former Bureau of Corrections and Philippine National Police head Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. /kga