Poe to break away from rivals with Estrada’s backing – supporters

MANILA — The camp of Grace Poe believes that Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada’s endorsement would be a double whammy for Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Team Galing at Puso campaign manager Joseph Ace Durano said that Estrada’s support would allow Poe to break away from the pack of leading presidential bets who were closely tied based on recent major surveys.

“Mayor Erap still has a strong following in the City of Manila (which has 1 million voters). Definitely Mayor Erap’s endorsement will add to Senator Grace’s support base,” said Durano.

Durano said that Estrada’s appeal went beyond Manila as he has been able to maintain a core base of supporters nationwide, which propelled him to a second best showing in the 2010 presidential elections.

But more than boosting her votes, Estrada’s endorsement of Poe would deal a big blow to Binay’s chances, according to former An-Waray Rep. Florencio ” Bem” Noel.

Noel said Estrada’s Partido ng Masang Pilipino was a major partner of Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance and Binay was counting on heavily Estrada’s supporters as his core voters.
“Poe will take away votes from Binay who is one of our closest rivals,” said Noel.

Priori to Estrada’s endorsement, several key political groups have declared their support for Poe such as the Nationalist People’s Coalition, Senator Ramon “Bong ” Revilla Jr., and Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo “Albee” Benitez.  SFM