Former senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr. Fat Reyes/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines – Former Senator Ramon Magsaysay admitted that he was “affected” by his ranking in the surveys but said he would not back down from his bid to make a return to the Senate in the upcoming May elections.
“I am affected by the results of the survey, of course. But that’s not enough reason to dampen my strong resolve to be of service to the people,” Magsaysay, who ranked 16th in the latest Social Weather Station survey, said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Modesty aside, I’ve accomplished a lot in my 12-year stint but there’s much to be done still. That’s why I would want to continue my work as a legislator and push for good governance as well as needed reforms,” he said.
Magsaysay pointed out though that when the SWS survey was conducted from February 15 to 17, his various multi-media advertisements have not been released yet.
“Hopefully, I am optimistic that we’ll do good in the next round of mock poll survey and be among the top 12. We will continue to reach out to the electorate and study further the areas in which we should intensify our efforts in this campaign,” he said.
Unlike Magsaysay, former Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros said she was not “disheartened” by her 18th ranking in the latest survey.
“I have always known that running for a Senate seat will always be challenging, and thus I am not disheartened by the recently released SWS survey,” Hontiveros said in a separate statement.
“Hindi ako incumbent, kaya dapat mas puspusan pa ang kailangang gawin para ipaalala sa mga botante kung ano na ang aking mga napanalunan. I may be an ally of President Aquino, and I appreciate his support, but I have always believed that winning with integrity and honor means standing on your own feet,” she said.
What made it more challenging, Hontiveros said, was that she was just an ordinary candidate vying for a national seat— no name recall and no relative in politics who can help boost her campaign.
“Ang tanging kasama ko ay mga ordinaryong Pilipino na nangangarap na kayang pasukin ng isang ordinaryong mamamayan ang isa sa mga pinakamahalagang institusyon sa ating bansa,” she said.
“Hindi ako pinanghihinaan ng loob dahil sa survey. I am actually more inspired to fight harder,” Hontiveros added.