OLANGO ISLAND GROUP, Cebu—Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas remains upbeat with the slight improvement in his survey rating, saying he trusts that the voting public will not allow themselves to be deceived by “fraudsters, thieves and those who are unsure where to take the people.”
In the latest Pulse Asia survey, Roxas’ rating increased by one percent but is still trailing behind those of his rivals Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay.
The survey, which was conducted the week before the first presidential debate on Feb. 21, showed Roxas tying with Duterte on the second spot at 21 percent.
Roxas was only five percentage points behind survey front-runner Poe, whose numbers went down to 26 percent from last month’s 30.
READ: Poe, Binay share lead; Escudero, Marcos ‘statistically tied’–Pulse Asia
“Ang dahilan kaya nagdidikit na ang mga numero namin ay silang mga kababayan natin na sumusuporta sa Daang Matuwid. Sila naman talaga ang may hawak ng kapangyarihan at tiwala ako na di sila magpapatalo sa mga manloloko, sa mga magnanakaw, sa iba pang ’di alam kung saan tayo dadalhin,” said Roxas minutes before he went up the stage before some 10,000 supporters here in Olango Island, Lapu Lapu City.
Roxas said he was surprised with how far his ratings had gone since the start of the campaign period.
He said his steady rise in the surveys just showed that the people were recognizing his sincerity and trustworthiness as a leader.
“Who would’ve thought na 60 days or 70 days before the election, mararating natin ito? Noon, ang kantyaw sa atin wala tayong kapana-panalo pero nakikita ng mga kababayan natin na sinsero tayo, nakikita nila na trustworthy tayo, na mapagkakatiwalaan tayo, na tayo ang kasama nila sa Daang Matuwid,” he said.
Meanwhile, Liberal Party said the results showed that the May 9 election was still anybody’s game.
“We are determined to make the most of the two months left in the campaign. We’ve said from the start that slow and steady will win the race, and the latest poll numbers support this,” LP spokesperson and Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez said in a statement.
Gutierrez said Roxas’ performance gave the coalition “firm confidence that we are on track to top the one survey that truly matters, the elections on May 9.” RC
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