Senator Franklin Drilon. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The administration coalition on Friday viewed the latest survey showing the Filipinos’ high preference for its senatorial candidates as an “indication” of confidence in President Benigno Aquino III and his team.
Senator Franklin Drilon, campaign manager of “Team Pnoy,” noted that seven senatorial candidates, who made it to the top 12 in the latest Pulse Asia survey, were all from the administration group.
“It is beyond doubt that President Aquino’s endorsement of his senatorial team is very effective and has been taken positively by the people who clearly manifest support for the team the President has chosen to help him carry out his reforms in the next three years,” Drilon said in a statement on Friday.
“The survey is a manifestation that majority of the people trust the candidates the President has chosen to be part of his reform team in the Senate. Naiintindihan na ng taumbayan ang mensahe ng ating Pangulo: ito ang kasama ko sa tuwid na daan,” he added.
The three candidates who topped the survey were incumbents Senators Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano – all belonged to the “Team Pnoy.”
Legarda and Escudero, however, were also adopted by rival group, the United Nationalist Alliance.
The four senatorial bets from the Team Pnoy who made it to the Magic 12 were incumbent Senators Antonio “Sonny’ Trillanes IV and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, and former Las Pinas Representative Cynthia Villar.
But Drilon said the survey also signified confidence in the five other candidates of “Team PNoy, who, he said, were “within” striking distance.
The five were Benigno “Bam’ Aquino, former chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board Grace Poe, former Senators Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal and Ramon Magsaysay and Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros.
“The campaign has not even started yet. I am confident that when they get the needed exposure, they will catch up,” Drilon said.