Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER PHOTO
Vice President Jejomar Binay does not want to be too confident as the campaign winds down, saying he opts to run “scared” four days before the May 9 elections.
In an interview on Thursday in Isabela where he took his campaign motorcade, Binay said his philosophy in politics was not to be too confident.
He vowed, however, that he would still win the presidential race.
Asked if he had done all he could in his campaign, Binay said: “It’s not enough. One of my rules in politics is that I shouldn’t be overconfident. Always running scared, which means up to the last second of the allowable campaign, we will be campaigning.”
For his part, United Nationalist Alliance senatorial candidate and boxing champion Manny Pacquiao said the warm support he and Binay had been receiving from the ground was a far cry from the Vice President’s declining survey ratings.
“We met so many people in the places we’ve been to, their welcome has been very warm. The people’s reception is very far from what we see in the surveys. Like what VP said, survey results will be seen after the elections,” said Pacquiao who accompanied Binay in the Isabela sortie.
READ: Binay will win ‘ground game,’ UNA says
UNA President Toby Tiangco earlier said Binay would win the “ground war” because of the support of a broad coalition of supporters and partners.
Binay’s spokesperson Rico Quicho added that the surveys, which show Binay declining in ratings, did not reflect the support for Binay on the ground.
READ: Binay ‘is coming,’ despite lost lead, says his camp
According to the latest Pulse Asia survey conducted April 26 to 29, Binay placed fourth with 17 percent, down one percent from the previous survey conducted April 19 to 24.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, meanwhile, retained his lead at 33 percent among 4,000 respondents, followed by administration candidate Mar Roxas and erstwhile front-runner Sen. Grace Poe in a statistical tie at 22 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago got only two percent.
READ: Duterte maintains lead in latest Pulse Asia poll; Robredo surges
The survey has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 1.5 percentage points. Four percent remains undecided.
Binay used to lead in the surveys, until the corruption allegations caught up with him when the Office of the Ombudsman indicted him for malversation, graft and falsification of public documents over the alleged overpricing of the Makati car park building when he was mayor.
On Wednesday, Binay said he had lost confidence in the surveys since losing his lead.
READ: Failing to regain lead, Binay loses trust in surveys
Quicho said Binay’s victory would be similar to his vice presidential win in 2010, when he gained momentum in the surveys to surpass his nemesis Mar Roxas just before Election Day.
“History will indeed repeat itself. This election will be won on the ground on Election Day. Let us all vote early with your family and friends,” Quicho said.
“To the other candidates: Do not celebrate yet, good things are about to happen, Binay is coming,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the final Standard poll conducted April 27 to May 1, Binay also shed some points at 15 percent, down from 18 percent in the March 26-April 1 survey and from 23 percent in the Feb 24-Mar 1 poll.
Duterte remained the front-runner in that survey at 32 percent, followed by Poe with 25 percent and Roxas with 22 percent. Santiago placed last with two percent.
Four percent were undecided. The survey has 3,000 voting age respondents and a margin of error of plus-or-minus 1.8 percentage points.
READ: Duterte ahead by 7 in final Standard survey