‘Miriam to bring issues, excitement to campaign’

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago         YUJI VINCENT GONZALES/INQUIRER.net

THE ENTRY of a new candidate for President like Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago would make the campaign more issue-oriented and more exciting, according to a political pundit.

University of the Philippines vice president for public affairs and professor Prospero de Vera said, “Candidates must realize that voters are now taking a closer look at their platforms.”

‘’They can see past the mudslinging and are now taking a look at the issues and how these candidates will address them should they be voted into office,” he said.

Santiago just beat the candidacy filing deadline last Friday and announced her run for the presidency. She surprised everyone even more when she announced her running mate was Sen. Ferdinand “Bong-bong” Marcos Jr., son of the martial law president Santiago had abhorred.

De Vera, however, has chosen Sen. Grace Poe to take off in the presidential race after Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte announced with finality on Friday his decision not to run for president.

De Vera said that fewer candidates gave Poe a bigger chance of winning as she has been the consistent topnotcher of major surveys.

De Vera, also the president of the Association of Political Consultants in Asia, cited a survey conducted by Laylo Research Strategies from Sept. 21 to Oct. 1 which showed Poe leading with 47 percent.

Vice President Jejomar Binay and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas were tied at 26 percent each.

“The survey conducted by Laylo shows that Senator Poe would benefit from the decision of Mayor Duterte not to run because she would further increase her lead in a three-way race,” De Vera said.

De Vera made the statement to reporters at the annual corporate governance conference of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines last week.

De Vera said recent survey results showed that Poe and her team were focused on the issues and this was “connecting with voters.”

A wider Laylo survey covering 1,500 respondents from 76 provinces as well as the National Capital Region showed Poe leading Roxas, Binay, Duterte, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, Senators Marcos and Santiago and former Sen. Richard Gordon.

Poe garnered 32 percent while Roxas came second at 19 percent, followed by Binay (14 percent), Duterte (10 percent), Estrada (9 percent), Marcos (7 percent), Santiago (6 percent) and Gordon (1 percent).