Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
DON’T belittle campus mock elections, like the one held recently at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, advised Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Sunday.
Mar Roxas, the administration standard-bearer for 2016, emerged as the preferred presidential candidate in the mock polls conducted by a student fraternity.
Coloma called the mock elections a “snapshot of how students view certain candidates.”
“It is noteworthy that the administration presidential candidate attained the highest number of votes,” he told the Inquirer.
Coloma, also head of the Presidential Communications Operations Office added that the UP mock election results indicated a “resonance with the administration’s good governance platform.”
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said that “while not scientifically as accurate as the Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia surveys, the mock polls nonetheless gives you a sense of what is in the minds of students, who constitute the largest voting bloc at a certain point in time.”
“It also confirms the upward trend of Mar Roxas since he declared his candidacy and his endorsement by P-Noy,” the Department of Budget and Management head added.
Roxas, in a text message, said he was “thankful for the result” of the UP mock polls.
The ruling Liberal Party’s presidential candidate earlier told reporters at the LP’s Balay headquarters in Quezon City: “For those who are not yet supporting us, we are asking them for an opportunity to present our platform and our track record.”
In the mock polls, conducted by the UP Alpha Sigma fraternity from Sept. 7 to 30, Roxas received 598 out of 2,588 votes, followed by Sen. Grace Poe with 572 votes and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago with 512.
Next came Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with 491 votes, and Senators Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Francis Escudero with 68 votes each.
Vice President Jejomar Binay, meanwhile, received only 52 votes while former Sen. Panfilo Lacson garnered 40, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano had 36, Naga City Rep. Leni Robredo, eight, and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV got six.