Liberal Party spokesman Rep. Barry Gutierrez heralds the gains made by LP standard-bearer Mar Roxas. NESTOR CORRALES/INQUIRER.NET
Despite trailing behind poll frontrunner Senator Grace Poe, the camp of Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said his ratings have significantly improved.
“We still think we are still on track. Now we are tied [in] second with people who used to lead the pack,” Rep. Ibarra “Barry” Gutierrez III, LP spokesman, said on Saturday in an ambush interview.
In the latest Pulse Asia Survey, Roxas, who got a 20 percent voter preference, shared the second spot with Vice President Jejomar Binay and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Poe, on the other hand, regained the lead with 33 percent of the 1,800 respondents saying she is their top choice for president.
READ: Poe regains lead; Binay, Roxas, Duterte in ‘statistical tie’—Pulse Asia
Roxas increased his stock by three percentage points from his 17-percent rating in December 2015.
“It’s an affirmation that we’re on the right track. We are very confident that in the remaining three months of the official campaign, as long as we stick to message, as long as Secretary Mar and Congresswoman Leni continue reaching out to the barangay (villages), their numbers will rise,” Gutierrez said in mixed English and Filipino.
READ: Slow and steady wins the ‘marathon,’ says Roxas
Robredo, meanwhile, is in a statistical tie in third place with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano for vice president with 18 percent of the votes of the respondents. They trail frontrunners Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos.
The Roxas-Robredo tandem will kick off their campaign in Capiz on February 9. IDL