Binay unfazed after being overtaken by Roxas in SWS survey

Vice President Jejomar Binay just shrugged off the results of the latest survey of pollster Social Weather Stations which revealed that he placed third in the list of preferred successors of President Benigno Aquino III.

According to the results of the September survey, more than a third of respondents, or 35 percent, preferred Binay as one of the leaders who will succeed Aquino.

In an interview on ABS-CBN’s “Umagang Kay Ganda” on Monday, Binay said that his core supporters remain intact.

“‘Yong 35 na ‘yon, sa aking palagay, ‘yon pa rin ‘yong aking core. ‘Yon bang bumoto sa akin noong 2010, bumoto para kay Senator Nancy [Binay] noong 2013, at ‘yong mga naging survey noong nakaraan dito sa pagka-presidente, nandoon ‘yon… So naroon pa rin ‘yong core ko,” Binay said.

(That 35 percent, in my opinion, is my core [voters]. They were the ones who voted for me in 2010 and those who voted for Senator Nancy [Binay] in 2013.)

Binay said that while he feels hurt by his dipping numbers in voters’ preference surveys, he emphasized that survey results are fluid.

“Talagang fluid naman ‘yan, una. Pangalawa, tinitingnan mo kung ‘yong core group mo naroon pa. Kasi ‘yong iba, ‘yong ibang kandidato, bigla-bigla ang taas, bigla-bigla rin ang pagbagsak,” he said.

Meanwhile, Binay’s spokesperson for political affairs Atty. Rico Quicho said that the results of the survey does not affect Binay’s desire to “continue his pro-poor programs and to fight for inclusive growth for all Filipinos.”

Quicho said that the bump on Roxas’ survey ratings was due to “heavy advertising.”

“Heavy advertising, questionable use of government resources especially on the part of Secretary Roxas, contributed to the bump in his numbers to tie the Vice President, if the margin of error is considered. The Vice President’s core supporters remain growing and solid,” Quicho said.

The lawyer also noted that the 35 percent of respondents in the SWS survey who chose Binay only shows that Filipinos have realized that the “orchestrated attacks against the Vice President and his family are all fabricated lies being peddled by some entities to prompt the rating of other candidates.”