Slow and steady wins the ‘marathon,’ says Roxas

Mar Roxas Photo by Julliane Love De Jesus/INQUIRER.net

Slow and steady wins the race, according to the camp of Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas, who remains convinced he’s the “man to beat” in the 2016 presidential race.

On Friday, the Roxas camp said the elections were like a “marathon, not a race,” insisting that only the former Interior Secretary was showing “a steady and consistent rise” across three nationwide surveys when compared to his rivals.

Roxas has yet to capture the lead in the opinion polls but survey results for his rivals have seesawed, with Sen. Grace Poe, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte trading places at the top.

The administration candidate dismissed any suggestion that he was at a disadvantage.

“While other candidates’ numbers in the Pulse Asia, Social Weather Stations (SWS), and Laylo electoral surveys continue to fall, Roxas’ numbers buck this trend and continue to rise,” Roxas’ press officer said in a statement to the Inquirer.

“Data collected from the three polling bodies last December 2015 presented erratic numbers for other presidential aspirants, while those of Roxas show a steady and consistent rise,” the statement read in part.

Pulse Asia’s fourth quarter survey of 1,800 respondents, which was conducted from Dec. 4 to 11, put Binay on top with 33 percent of the hypothetical vote. Poe and Duterte were statistically tied at 23 and 21 percent, respectively. Roxas was fourth with 17 percent.

In its own survey from Dec. 12 to 14 of 1,200 respondents, SWS had Poe and Binay tied for first with 26 percent of the vote. Roxas was third with 22 percent, while Duterte was fourth with 20 percent.

The Roxas camp chose to look at the positive side, noting the jumpy trend of his rivals’ numbers from the three survey firms.

“Binay suffered losses across the three surveys conducted last December: from 33 percent down to 28 (in the Laylo survey) and finally at 26 percent,” it said.

“In the long run, comparing the poll numbers of the Daang Matuwid standard-bearer with other candidates shows that Roxas alone has been improving in the polls,” the Roxas camp said.

Roxas, in previous interviews, said the only survey that truly mattered was the one to be held on May 9, election day.