Pulse Asia poll shows ‘increasing support’ for Roxas–Palace

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. says the recent Pulse Asia poll results show “increasing support” for former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas II, the presidential bet of Liberal Party in the 2016 elections. INQUIRER PHOTO

Malacañang on Friday welcomed the “significant improvement” in the ratings of administration standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II in the recent Pulse Asia presidential preference survey.

Attributing Roxas’ 8-percentage-point increase to the endorsement of President Benigno Aquino III, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said the survey results showed “increasing support” for the former interior secretary as Liberal Party’s presidential bet in next year’s polls.

Roxas placed third in the recent Pulse Asia survey of most preferred presidential candidates after getting 18-percentage points, up from the 10 percent he registered in the June poll results. Front-runner Sen. Grace Poe (27 percent) and opposition leader Vice President Jejomar Binay (21 percent), who came in first and second, respectively, both sustained drops in their ratings.

READ: Grace Poe tops Pulse Asia survey anew | Poe still leads in new poll; Binay 2nd, Roxas 3rd | Grace Poe thankful for topping Pulse Asia poll anew

“Secretary Roxas posted the most significant increase of eight points which indicates increasing support for him as the standard bearer of ‘daang matuwid.’ This improvement was achieved within a month after President Aquino endorsed his candidacy,” Coloma said, referring to the administration’s “straight path” reform on governance.

In her speech announcing her bid for the presidency last Sept. 16, Poe said no single party or person had the monopoly of daang matuwid. LP had wooed Poe to be Roxas’ running mate, but the senator had formally joined the presidential derby.

Coloma said the increase in Roxas’ ratings also reflected the public’s trust in Aquino and the administration’s anticorruption efforts.

“The significant improvement in Secretary Roxas’ ratings follow the same upward trend in the President’s satisfaction ratings which are higher than what his predecessors attained in the late stage of the term,” Coloma said.

“It is reasonable to infer that our bosses believe in the President’s advocacy for continuity of daang matuwid and the strengthening of good governance beyond the end of his term,” he added. Yuji Vincent Gonzales/RC

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