Drilon: Roxas can beat Jojo Binay, Grace Poe

The race for Malacañang in 2016, says the latest SWS survey, is led by (from left) Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is said to be ‘ecstatic’ over his high score amid corruption charges. Rising Grace Poe is reportedly inspired to be second “best”. Mar Roxas shows he’s catching up, at third place. INQUIRER file photos

Senate President Franklin Drilon is confident that the Liberal Party’s (LP) presumptive standard-bearer in 2016, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, can beat the two frontrunners in presidential surveys.

Roxas has been lagging behind Vice President Jejomar Binay, whose consistent top position in electoral surveys has seen a steady decline, and Senator Grace Poe, who has risen to the second spot in the pre-election polls.

READ: Grace Poe closes in on Jojo Binay in latest SWS presidential poll

But Drilon, vice chair of LP, said “popularity or lack of it is not the only determining factor.”

“Certainly, winnability is a consideration but that’s not the only consideration. We must see the track record of the candidate because that’s precisely the purpose of the campaign,” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel on Monday.

“You know, you may be low in the surveys but precisely, your ability to explain and to put across a message is something that you must take into account,” he pointed out.

Drilon then cited as example the case of Binay, who was only four percent in the pre-election surveys at the start of the campaign in 2010 but because he “correctly projected himself in the media,” he won and defeated Roxas in the vice presidential derby.

Asked by anchor Karen Davila if he believed Roxas could beat Binay and Poe in 2016, the Senate leader said: “Of course, of course. Right now, only Binay is the declared candidate.”

“I think Mar has a good chance of being able to present himself as the most qualified candidate. The battle is in messaging,” Drilon further said.

Binay has publicly declared that he is running for president while Roxas and Poe have yet to make public their political plans in 2016.