Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco and Sen. Serge Osmeña. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—There’s the P-Noy “X factor” and then there’s the “Serge factor.”
With the campaign now officially underway, the quiet presence of Sen. Serge Osmeña echoes loud at the administration’s Team PNoy ticket, and its giving the campaign manager of the United Nationalist Alliance some goose bumps.
Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said he got word that Osmeña, a veteran of political campaigns, was working as a “campaign consultant” for select members of the administration slate such as Grace Poe.
And that Osmeña was purportedly reporting “only” to President Aquino brought Tiangco’s memory back to the 2007 senatorial election when the senator was a strategic planner for the Genuine Opposition (GO).
That’s when Tiangco said he saw first-hand the political savvy of Osmeña, his strength when it came to reading political surveys and actually delivering results.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Senator (Franklin) Drilon, but you can quote me on this—Serge, I mean, he is what makes my job difficult,” the UNA campaign manager told the Inquirer in an interview. “I don’t know how you would say it but I’m more concerned about Serge than Drilon.”
Though admittedly facing a campaign heavyweight in Drilon, his Team PNoy counterpart, Tiangco said he was “wary” of what he called the “Serge factor.” He said it was mainly because of the senator’s “scientific way of looking at surveys, learning the political demand, delivering the message to the people.”
“He knows his politics,” said the 45-year-old Tiangco, recalling the time when he was a volunteer in the GO senatorial ticket’s campaign and observing how Osmeña worked.
The legend of Osmeña in campaign circles is known to a key member of Team PNoy’s campaign team. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the administration insider said, “I would hear his name, but I have never seen him attend meetings.”
“I heard he is helping three candidates and his strength is with demographics and surveys,” the insider said.
Poe admitted getting help from Osmeña, but said she was unsure if the senator was doing it “as a member of any particular coalition.”
“He is a great mentor and adviser. So glad and thankful he is helping me out. Plus, he’s kind and generous and helps neophytes like me” she said in a text message Wednesday
Tiangco said Osmeña’s fingerprint was all over Poe’s strong showing in the recent Social Weather Stations survey where she cracked the Magic 12 at 10th to 11th places.
“You look at the surveys and Grace went up. Who is running Grace’s campaign? Serge,” he said.
Poe gave credit to Osmeña for her improvement in the SWS survey. “Of course. The discipline and strategy needed to run a successful yet streamlined campaign is what Senator Serge has proven to deliver,” she said.
Tiangco said he looks up to Osmeña in terms of campaign strategies, agreeing that the May senatorial race would still require a “media-driven campaign.” Like the senator, he said, he puts a premium on understanding the numbers in the surveys, why a certain candidate is high and why another one is low.
“We think along the same lines, that this is the way to do a campaign,” he said. “I agree with his principles on how a campaign should be run. The only problem is the resources are now on his side and not on my side.”
Osmeña said: “Toby is being overly kind and his opinion of me is exaggerated. I am not involved with Team PNoy. I have been advising a handful of candidates who asked for advice. My role is minimal in this campaign.”