Internal survey shows opponent leading, but Robredo catching up — Trillanes

Supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo listen during her speech at the PasigLaban rally in Pasig City. Image from VP Leni Robredo Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo is still trailing the frontrunner for the 2022 presidential race, but is already starting to narrow the gap according to former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

Trillanes during his speech at the PasigLaban rally on Sunday night referred to their internal surveys which supposedly indicate that the opponent’s lead is dwindling.

The former senator did not mention what survey that was and who the opponent is, but it is presumed to be former senator Bongbong Marcos who still holds a commanding lead in publicly-released surveys from Pulse Asia and the Social Weather Stations.

“Alam niyo po may ipagtatapat po ako sa inyo, dahil kakatapos lang po ng aming survey, at lamang pa rin po ang kalaban. Pero ang good news, dumidikit na si Leni,” he declared.

(You know I have something to admit: because our internal survey has just ended, and it showed that the opponent still leads.  But the good news is Leni has been narrowing the gap.)

Aside from that, Trillanes said that the same internal survey showed that Robredo would win in Pasig City, where the 130,000-strong crowd converged.

“At isa pang good news, panalo si Leni dito sa Pasig. Dalawang siyudad na sa Metro Manila panalo ang ating Pangulong Leni, so susunod-sunurin natin ‘yan,” he said.

(And another good news, Leni wins here in Pasig. That’s two cities in Metro Manila where our president Leni wins, and we would win in other cities too.)

“At kakasabi lang sa akin ngayon, ang isa pang magandang balita, ang record holder sa mga rally ay ang Pasig,” he added.

(And they have just informed me of another good news: the record holder now for rallies is Pasig.)

Teamwork

However, Trillanes also admitted that they have been seeing a huge number of people who are picking Robredo for president, but are not necessarily voting for her running mate, Senator Francis Pangilinan.

Trillanes urged the public to pick Pangilinan if they want Robredo as the next president, as teamwork is necessary for progress.

“Pero alam niyo ang isa naming nakita do’n sa aming survey, na lahat ng nandirito, iboboto si Leni, tama?  Yes, pero merong ilan na hindi ibinoboto si Kiko, o ‘di ba?  Kaya dapat lahat tayo dito, ‘pag iboboto si Leni, iboboto rin si Kiko, dahil teamwork ang gusto natin. Kung gusto natin ng pagbabago dapat buong team,” he said.

(But you know what we have seen also from the surveys — everyone here would vote for Leni, right?  But there are some who would not vote for Kiko too.  That’s why I am asking everyone here, if you would vote for Leni, also vote for Kiko because we want teamwork.  If we want change, it has to be the whole team.)

“Mahal ba natin si Leni Robredo?  Gaano natin ka-mahal si Leni?  Sobra ‘di ba, kasi higit pa d’yan ang pagmamahal niya sa inyo.  Alam niyo ginawa niya ‘yan the past six years, talagang ipinapakita niya ‘yong malasakit niya sa mga kababayan natin,” he added.

(Do we love Leni Robredo?  How much do we love Leni?  A lot, right, because she is willing to love us even more.  You know what she has been doing for the last six years, she really showed how much she cares for the people.)

During the Pulse Asia survey released last February, Marcos was well ahead of Robredo, getting 60 percent of the respondents to vote for him if elections were to be held from January 19 to 24.  Robredo only got 16 percent of the respondents.

Onto the next Pulse Asia survey released last March — held from February 18 to 23 — Marcos was able to maintain his lead over Robredo, still getting 60 percent of the votes, with Robredo’s share dwindling by one percentage point.

READ: Marcos Jr. leads latest Pulse Asia survey for presidential race 

But the numbers are even worse for Pangilinan: in the March survey, he ranked third behind Marcos running mate and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio (53 percent) and Senate President Vicente Sotto III (24 percent).

Pangilinan was not present during the PasigLaban rally, as he attended the vice presidential debates hosted by the Commission on Elections during the same hour.

The Marcos and Duterte tandem, on the other hand, did not attend the debates.

READ: Pulse Asia survey: Sara Duterte is top choice for VP 

EDV