Photo Courtesy of Ka Leody De Guzman Facebook Page
MANILA, Philippines — Despite ranking low on a recent presidential survey, labor leader Leody de Guzman said Thursday that he is unfazed by the new results and vowed to double his party’s efforts to reach workers.
Based on a Pulse Asia survey released Wednesday, de Guzman placed ninth out of 10 presidential bets, amassing only 0.02 percent of the respondents’ votes.
“Hindi kami apektado ng resulta ng mga surveys pero asahan ng publiko na dodoblehin o tritriplehin pa namin sa PLM — Partido Lakas ng Masa ang aming pagsisikap na abutin ang pinakamalaking bilang ng mga manggagawa’t masa na sawang-sawa na sa isang kahig, isang tukang buhay habang nagtatampisaw sa pinagpagurang buwis ng mamamayan ang mga elitistang pulitiko,” de Guzman said in a statement.
(We are not affected by the result of surveys but the public can expect that the Partido Lakas ng Masa will double or triple our efforts to reach the largest number of workers and masses who are tired of hand-to-mouth living while elitist politicians bask in people’s hard-earned taxes.)
De Guzman also noted that surveys have limitations, saying it is based on the paying politician who is just monitoring its toughest contender.
He added that the PLM does not have millions to pay for surveys.
The labor leader said that the questions of surveyors are unclear and at times biased.
“Hindi maliwanag ang mga tanong at ayon sa ilang na-survey, biased ang mga tanong sa kandidatong gusto nilang i-promote,” he noted.
(The questions are not clear and according to some who were surveyed, the questions are biased toward those who they want to promote.)
Hence, De Guzman raised the need for an unpaid trustworthy agency, suggesting that the University of the Philippines School of Statistics can be mobilized for the matter.
The presidential hopeful said that he, together with his partymates, will push through with their candidacies.
“Hangga’t ang aming mga karibal ay patuloy sa pagsusulong ng kanilang plataporma na papakinabangan lamang ng mga bilyonaryo’t mga dinastiya, walang panlipunang pwersa ang makakapigil sa lumalaban na manggagawa,” he said.
(While our rivals continue to push their platforms that billionaires and dynasties will benefit from, there is no societal force that could hinder fighting workers.)
“Papatunayan ng kasaysayan na nasa panig kami ng katwiran. Nasa panig namin ang manggagawang Pilipino,” de Guzman went on.
(History will prove that we are on the side of justice. Filipino workers are on our side.)