MANILA, Philippines — “We will never give up for our country’s sake.”
Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson made the vow on Monday as he urged his supporters not to “get disheartened” by the results of a recent pre-election survey, which showed he was behind four rivals.
“To our BRAVE supporters: if you don’t see in the surveys the support that you feel on the ground, don’t get disheartened,” he said on social media.
“Our fight to enlighten a benighted land shall continue in ways that are determined, decent, serious and honest. We will never give up for our country’s sake,” he added.
BRAVE stands for Lacson’s proposed Budget Reform Advocacy for Village Empowerment program, which seeks to empower local governments by bringing budget resources to them to enable them to implement their development projects.
In the latest Pulse Asia pre-election survey conducted among 2,400 respondents from Jan. 19 to 24, Lacson garnered a four-percent voter preference.
This was two points lower than what Pulse Asia’s survey in December showed.
Lacson’s campaign manager, former Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, earlier said that while the senator is “not the top of mind” presidential bet, he will emerge as the “best” contender during the period of debates in the campaign period.