FOURTH on the list, but the biggest leap of all.
This was the spin put on by the supporters of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas after they saw his rating jumped from four percent to 10 percent in the latest Pulse Asia survey.
Though still faring poorly, Liberal Party official Jerry Treñas said Roxas’ improvement marked a 150-percent increase in the latest survey (conducted May 30-June 5) compared to the previous survey (conducted March 1-7).
Trenas said Roxas enjoyed the highest growth rate compared to Vice President Jejomar Binay who saw his growth rate at -24 percent, neophyte Senator Grace Poe (114 percent), and Davao city Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (25 percent).
“We have the highest growth rate! And there is still one year to go,” Treñas said in a text message.
Another Roxas’ supporter, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, said this is the first time the LP’s presumptive presidential bet garnered a double-digit rating.
In the June Pulse Asia survey, Roxas tied with former President now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada in fourth place with 10 percent of 1,200 respondents favoring them for President.
This was a marked improvement compared to the March survey when Roxas landed in sixth place with four percent, surpassed even by Senators Bongbong Marcos and Miriam Santiago who got six and nine percent, respectively. Roxas then only tied with Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero.
In the June survey, Poe topped the presidential opinion poll for the first time, chosen by 30 percent of the 1, 200 respondents nationwide. This was an increase of 16 percentage points, from 14 percent in March.
Binay, meanwhile, fell by seven percentage points to 22 percent from 29 percent in March.
Binay’s camp was noticeably mum on the Vice President’s slide in the ranking. The slip can be attributed to allegations that he benefitted from overpriced infrastructure deals when he was Makati mayor.
When asked how Binay can step up his game, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco, Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) interim president, only said: “Ipagpapatuloy lang ni VP ang pangangalaga sa OFW at housing sector. Lalo siyang magsisipag para maibangon sa kahirapan ang ating mahihirap na kababayan.”
The latest survey was conducted at a period when major developments preoccupied Filipinos, such as the news about the meeting between Poe and President Benigno Aquino III purportedly to discuss her plans for 2016; the residency and foundling issues raised by Binay’s allies against Poe; the continuation of the Senate probe on the corruption allegations against Binay; and the last-minute reprieve given by the Indonesian government to Mary Jane Veloso. AC