Duterte camp: It’s better to be behind in surveys for now

MANILA, Philippines — Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte got what he wished for, which is to be at the bottom of presidential surveys, according to his political camp, which has apparently taken the latest Social Weather Station results of its presidential preference survey lightly.

“The SWS survey is now out placing Rody Duterte at No. 4. Ha ha ha. The mayor got his Christmas wish to be placed at the bottom! And we don’t mind,” Peter Laviña, one of the aides of Duterte, said in a Facebook post.

In the latest survey conducted from December 12 to 14, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Senator Grace Poe were picked by 26 percent of the 1, 200 respondents.

Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas came in third with 22 percent, while Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ranked fourth with 20 percent. Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago was fifth with four percent.

In a pronouncement early this month after he topped the SWS survey, Duterte requested pollsters to put him on the last spot.

“I will ask Pulse Asia and SWS to place me in the last (of their list). That is my request,” Duterte told reporters in a previous interview.

Laviña said the recent survey would propel the camp of Duterte to “work harder” and be “fully aware that the road to change is truly not easy.”

“There are tricks, twists and turns. However, never be afraid of the future. God is already there,” Duterte’s spokesperson said.  SFM