Poe camp sees ‘adjustments’ in campaign as Duterte surges

Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Grace Poe. INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE and INQUIRER FILE

SAN PEDRO, Laguna — There will be “slight adjustments” in the campaign of the standard-bearers of Partido Galing at Puso after a surge of their rivals in pre-election surveys, vice presidential bet Francis Escudero said on Monday.

Escudero said he and his tandem, presidential bet Grace Poe, had met over the weekend and discussed their campaign.

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“May ilang adjustments kaming gagawin, pinagpulungan na namin ni Senator Grace yan noong isang araw, very slight adjustments lamang pero sa dulo stratehiya naman talaga ito at pagplano at labanan lalo na napakadikit ng laban sa pagkapangulo, napakadikit ng laban sa ikalawang pagkapangulo,” he said in an interview here.

“Ang mahalaga at importante, pagtapos ng eleksyon sana mabuo pa rin ang ating bansa sa kabila ng matinding hidwaan, matinding bangayan, matinding siraan na nakikita natin sa pagitan ng ilang mga kandidato.”

Poe and Escudero fell to second place in the latest survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) from March 30 to April 20 among 1, 500 respondents nationwide.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is now the voters’ top choice for president with 27 percent followed by Poe with 23 percent, Vice President Jejomar Binay with 20 percent, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas with 18 percent and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago woith three percent.

READ: Duterte is new frontrunner in SWS poll

Escudero was also overtaken by Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong”Marcos Jr. in the vice presidential race with 26 percent and 21 percent respectively, followed by Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo with 19 percent, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano with 13 percent and Senators Gringo Honasan and Antonio Trillanes IV with five percent each

READ: Marcos leads VP race; Escudero falls behind SWS survey

But Escudero was unfazed by his drop in the survey.

“Ang survey naman talaga ganun, mataas minsan, bababa minsan. Lahat ng survey tinitingnan at pinag-aaralan namin,tinuturing naming totoo at tama lahat yun at base dun, gumagawa kami ng mga hakbangin kaugnay sa mga dapat na adjustments na dapat gawin sa kampanya man ni Senator Grace o sa kampanya ko man o sa kampanya naming dalawa. Ganun ang palagi naming ginagawa,” he said.

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