By Nestor Mata (Malaya)
MANNY VILLAR’s rivals for the presidency, who have smeared him with false accusations and insinuations, must have been dumbfounded by survey results that he is considered the "most trusted" of all the presidential candidates in the coming May national elections.
Their collective silence is most deafening, indeed. And so are those senators, who had verbally stabbed him in the august hall of the Senate with their deliberate untruths and baseless charges, meek as lambs, too.
But, perhaps, some of them are beginning to realize that all their vicious thrashing of the Nacionalista Party’s standard bearer, before and after the start of the official campaign period, didn’t drag him down, as they had expected, in the eyes of the electorate, but instead made him more popular.
Thus, Villar won 70 percent majority public trust rating in the latest of Pulse Asia’s surveys conducted when he was in the center of that political maelstrom. On the other hand, Noynoy Aquino, candidate of the Liberal Party, and one of Villar’s bitterest detractors, was second with 64 percent.
Pulse Asia’s nationwide face-to-face survey covered 1,800 respondent adults 18 years old and above, from Metro Manila to the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
And, contrary to claims by certain presidential aspirants and their partisans, Pulse Asia conducted and analyzed the survey data uninfluenced by any religious, political, economic or partisan groups, and emphasized that it undertook its pre-election surveys without any party singularly commissioning the research effort.
Now, one may wonder why those surveyed nationwide considered Villar as the "most trusted" of all presidential candidates in spite of all the political propaganda designed to discredit him in the public eye?
First of all, as one other prominent pollster has succinctly put it, the results of all the recent surveys generated the public impression that Villar, who was ganged up by his detractors in the Senate and by his political rivals, was the "political underdog."
Besides, those surveyed have already set aside whatever judgments they have against Villar in connection with that questionable Senate probe of an ethics case filed against him by other "would-be" presidential bets.
Indeed, there is a strong possibility that the public may have acquired the ability to dissect which are false information they receive or fed to them through the media and which are untainted and legitimate issues or political propaganda.
And, apparently, they brushed aside all the untruths, lies, insinuations, the mud and smear about Villar in mainstream newspapers and tabloids, and on television and radio, as nothing but cheap political propaganda.
Of course, it cannot be denied that the strategic placement of advertorials on TV and radio have generated the needed amount of public support and approval among those respondents in all those public opinion surveys.
Pulse Asia’s report showed that "nearly seven in ten Filipinos (68 percent) distrusted" Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, while only about one in ten expressed trust in her, at the national level and across geographic areas and socio-economic groups.
Unlike Arroyo, the public trust is the predominant sentiment only toward the two presidential candidates Villar and Aquino, and their vice presidential running mates Loren Legarda and Mar Roxas, in the fast approaching synchronized national elections in May.
And now, of these two presidential tickets, which do you think is likely to win?
***
Much has been said about the amounts spent by the presidential candidates before and during the campaign period.
Of all the candidates for the presidency, Villar has been the most transparent, something that political observers say is an essential step in eliminating and defeating official corruption. MANNY VILLAR’s rivals for the presidency, who have smeared him with false accusations and insinuations, must have been dumbfounded by survey results that he is considered the "most trusted" of all the presidential candidates in the coming May national elections.
Their collective silence is most deafening, indeed. And so are those senators, who had verbally stabbed him in the august hall of the Senate with their deliberate untruths and baseless charges, meek as lambs, too.
But, perhaps, some of them are beginning to realize that all their vicious thrashing of the Nacionalista Party’s standard bearer, before and after the start of the official campaign period, didn’t drag him down, as they had expected, in the eyes of the electorate, but instead made him more popular.
Thus, Villar won 70 percent majority public trust rating in the latest of Pulse Asia’s surveys conducted when he was in the center of that political maelstrom. On the other hand, Noynoy Aquino, candidate of the Liberal Party, and one of Villar’s bitterest detractors, was second with 64 percent.
Pulse Asia’s nationwide face-to-face survey covered 1,800 respondent adults 18 years old and above, from Metro Manila to the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
And, contrary to claims by certain presidential aspirants and their partisans, Pulse Asia conducted and analyzed the survey data uninfluenced by any religious, political, economic or partisan groups, and emphasized that it undertook its pre-election surveys without any party singularly commissioning the research effort.
Now, one may wonder why those surveyed nationwide considered Villar as the "most trusted" of all presidential candidates in spite of all the political propaganda designed to discredit him in the public eye?
First of all, as one other prominent pollster has succinctly put it, the results of all the recent surveys generated the public impression that Villar, who was ganged up by his detractors in the Senate and by his political rivals, was the "political underdog."
Besides, those surveyed have already set aside whatever judgments they have against Villar in connection with that questionable Senate probe of an ethics case filed against him by other "would-be" presidential bets.
Indeed, there is a strong possibility that the public may have acquired the ability to dissect which are false information they receive or fed to them through the media and which are untainted and legitimate issues or political propaganda.
And, apparently, they brushed aside all the untruths, lies, insinuations, the mud and smear about Villar in mainstream newspapers and tabloids, and on television and radio, as nothing but cheap political propaganda.
Of course, it cannot be denied that the strategic placement of advertorials on TV and radio have generated the needed amount of public support and approval among those respondents in all those public opinion surveys.
Pulse Asia’s report showed that "nearly seven in ten Filipinos (68 percent) distrusted" Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, while only about one in ten expressed trust in her, at the national level and across geographic areas and socio-economic groups.
Unlike Arroyo, the public trust is the predominant sentiment only toward the two presidential candidates Villar and Aquino, and their vice presidential running mates Loren Legarda and Mar Roxas, in the fast approaching synchronized national elections in May.
And now, of these two presidential tickets, which do you think is likely to win?
***
Much has been said about the amounts spent by the presidential candidates before and during the campaign period.
Villar may have spent P951 million, not discounting the discounts from the media outlets due to the sheer volume of his campaign ads. And yet he has not denied his expenses and openly claims the funds came from his own personal accounts, which his opponents can’t deny.
And what about the other presidential hopefuls, particularly Noynoy Aquino and Richard Gordon, who are the most vitriolic over Villar’s expenses, and claim they’re not millionaires unlike him who’s a billionaire?
Well, according to reliable sources, to date Aquino has spent P254 million on his TV and radio ads; Gibo Teodoro P369 million; Richard Gordon P239 million; Joseph Estrada P83 million; Eddie Villanueva P88 million.
Where did the hundreds of millions they have so far spent come from? Who are providing their financial support? Not one of them has opened up.
Obviously, unlike Villar, there is no transparency in their campaign finances.
This simply emphasizes the problems of "utang-na-loob" in government, ruling class loyalty, and a continuation of what’s called clientelism!
No comments:
Post a Comment