(From left) Senator Grace Poe, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Vice President Jejomar Binay
Sen. Grace Poe and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas expressed elation over the results of the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey on presidential preference in which they gained more supporters, propelling them to the top and second spots, respectively.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, who came in third, thanked his “core” supporters for their continued trust, as he slammed Roxas for using government resources.
The SWS survey, conducted nationwide from Sept. 2 to 5, showed 47 percent of 1,200 respondents choosing Poe as among the best leaders to succeed President Aquino, 39 percent picking Roxas and 35 percent rooting for Binay.
The proportion of those who named Poe as among the best leaders to succeed Aquino increased by 5 points from 42 percent in June while Roxas’ rating rose 18 points from 21 percent. Binay’s rating barely changed from 34 percent.
The survey, which had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points, was conducted after Roxas declared last month his candidacy but before Poe announced her intention to run.
Poe announced her run for the presidency on Sept. 16 at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City.
Binay was the first to express his intention to run for President. His speech in which he attacked the Aquino administration at the July 1 launch of his political party, the United Nationalist Alliance, set the tone of his campaign.
Humbled
In a statement, Poe thanked the people for their support and trust and said she was “humbled” that they “continue to appreciate our hard work and the brand of governance that we are upholding and pushing.”
“Our growing support from the people, as reflected in this survey, is an affirmation that what we have started is on the right track. It’s a validation that our agenda for transparency, efficiency and honesty resonate well with our people,” she said.
“As a public servant, I will continue to carry out our mandate and serve the people. Our people’s unwavering support remains an inspiration,” Poe also said.
Aquino endorsement
Interviewed by reporters, Poe said maintaining the lead in the surveys would be a “challenge” but she said she was focused on doing her work and praying for “wisdom and courage.”
Asked about the improving numbers of Roxas, Poe said President Aquino’s endorsement helped Roxas a lot.
“And at that time people were not sure I was running and it helped that I have made an announcement,” she said.
Roxas, the standard-bearer of the ruling Liberal Party (LP), said the preparations for the presidential race had only just begun.
‘Daang matuwid’
Anointed by Aquino to succeed him two months ago, Roxas said in a statement: “I am very thankful for the support of our countrymen. The entire ‘daang matuwid’ (straight path) coalition is elated by the surge in our numbers in the most recent SWS survey.”
“We see our increased numbers in this survey as an expression of faith in our capability to care for our families, our collective future and the dreams of our countrymen,” he added.
He said his spurt in the survey, which saw him leapfrogging over his political archrival, Binay, for the first time, also showed that “as time passes, more and more Filipinos are recognizing the excellent beginnings we have made along the straight path and are expressing their desire to maintain our trajectory.”
“We are confident that even more of our people will be able to discern true election issues from mere mudslinging,” he said.
Wake-up call for Binay
Asked in an interview if he was alarmed by the results, Binay said: “Assuming it’s correct, it’s a wake-up call, a challenge to work harder further.”
He said he heard Roxas had many ads and that this was the effect of the latter’s numbers jumping.
On a morning television show, Binay said the kind of questions in a survey would have a big influence on the results.
He said the SWS survey—in asking respondents to pick three candidates deemed best to succeed Aquino—seemed to “corner” the choices.
“You get trapped in the results,” he said.
Binay’s core supporters
Binay said the 35 percent he got in the survey was his core supporters, who included those who voted for him in 2010, his daughter Sen. Nancy Binay in 2013 and those who chose him in previous surveys.
Asked whether he felt hurt that his previous support of 60 percent had gone down, he said sometimes he did but he believed that his numbers could still go up.
“First, the situation is fluid. Secondly, look at your core group there. Because the other candidates, their numbers suddenly surge and then suddenly they also go down,” Binay said.
Asked whom he considered his strongest foe in the presidential race and whether this was Poe, the Vice President said he was a presidential candidate in 2016.
Graft charges taking toll
Senate President Franklin Drilon said the SWS survey showed that the corruption allegations against Binay “have started to take a toll on his candidacy, as shown by the continued decline in his ratings.”
Biny has been accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth when he was mayor of Makati City through allegedly overpriced projects and contracts won by his alleged dummy firms. Binay has denied the allegations.
Drilon said Roxas’ rise was a “strong indication of an upward trend” for the LP standard-bearer.
“The spike in Roxas’ rating shows that President Aquino’s endorsement power remains critical and cannot be ignored. It likewise shows that the public’s appreciation for the administration’s ‘tuwid na daan’ reform policies should not be underestimated,” Drilon said in a statement.
He said the last four SWS surveys showed Roxas’ ratings were gradual but were increasing steadily from 19 percent in November last year to 39 percent in September this year.
More effort needed
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the LP was happy with the jump in Mar Roxas’ standing in the SWS survey.
“Of course, we are happy about it and hopeful his ratings will continue to rise. Of course, this means more effort on his part and that of his supporters,” Belmonte said in a text message.
Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice said he was confident that Roxas would replicate his surge in the SWS survey with the upcoming survey of Pulse Asia in which respondents would be asked to pick just one.
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said the endorsement of the President appeared to have consolidated support for Roxas, who had been at the tail end of the surveys in the last 12 months.
Barzaga said that with the lingering questions on the residency and citizenship of the survey leader, Poe, Roxas’ political stock would likely increase as the campaign season begins.
3 names questioned
Senators Francis Escudero and Antonio Trillanes IV questioned the methodology used by SWS in seeking to find out the people’s preference for President by asking their top three choices.
“The fight is one-on-one,” Escudero said in an interview with reporters. But he said at least now the top three choices of people for President were known.
Escudero is seeking the vice presidency as Poe’s running mate.
Second look
He acknowledged that Roxas’ surge in the survey had to do with the President endorsing him.
Trillanes said people gave the former interior secretary “a second look” because of Aquino’s endorsement.
“[Roxas] used to be a popular candidate. In 2010 (when Roxas ran for Vice President and lost), he got 39 percent of voters. That was high … but people had gone cold on him. But because of the endorsement, they gave him a second look,” Trillanes said.
He also questioned the validity of the SWS methodology, saying that this was not valid if it was used as basis for voters’ preference.
He said the survey could be used for “propaganda purposes.”
“You can spin it like Secretary Roxas can make it appear that he has overtaken [Binay]. Vice President Binay can always say he was in the thick of things, that it was just a small difference,” the senator said.
Others
Others named by respondents in the SWS survey were Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (16 percent), who had made a “categorical” statement that he was not running for President in 2016, Escudero (6 percent), Sen. Bongbong Marcos (5 percent), Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada (3 percent) and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago (2 percent).
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and former Senators Panfilo Lacson and Manny Villar each got 1 percent.—With reports from Marlon Ramos and Inquirer Research
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