by Nikko Dizon (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur -- They weren’t the least worried with the latest survey results, or at least they managed to show that they weren’t.
Running mates Senators Manuel Villar and Loren Legarda faced the media, on Friday, looking and feeling confident that the crowd turnout in their barnstorming across the country was a more reliable indicator of voters’ preference rather than the latest Pulse Asia survey that showed them trailing behind the tandem of Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel Roxas.
“Let your videos speak for themselves. Let your photos speak for themselves. That’s the real survey. The 1,800 respondents (of Pulse Asia), I respect that. That’s a guide. That’s okay. But if you look at their (Aquino’s and Roxas’) figures , they’ve dropped 20 percent (since last year). They’ve got a big problem,” Legarda, of the Nacionalist People’s Coalition (NPC), said in a press conference here.
“We can see Noynoy and Mar free fall,” she added.
For his part, Villar, the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer, even said he was “quite happy” that Aquino was just ahead of him by a single digit, noting how in the previous surveys, especially last year, he had to contend with the latter’s double digit survey leads.
“I am quite happy with it. As I’ve said before, as long as it’s a single digit (lead), we’ll be happy. At nangangahulugan lamang na tuloy-tuloy naman yan, dikit naman. Basta nag-iimprove ka, okay naman. At sabi ko matagal pa iyang labanan (The numbers are close. For as long as we are improving, that’s OK. And as I always say, the race is long and is not over yet),” Villar said.
He was quite wary, however, that the survey was conducted around the time of the 24th anniversary of the Edsa People Power 1, which most Filipinos associated with Aquino’s late mother, former President Corazon Aquino.
Villar predicted a close fight between the presidency and a vice presidency, but still boasted of a united team that he said was getting stronger.
In such a situation where a close fight was in the offing, he said, the Nacionalista Party was gaining ground over the Liberal Party.
It was another reason that Villar, the party president, said that he was happy with the Pulse Asia survey result.
But Villar debunked the survey’s observation that his following in Mindanao had weakened based on the survey result, saying he and his team received a warm welcome in Southern Mindanao where they had barnstormed for a week.
Pulse Asia noted that the survey was conducted at the height of the Senate’s plenary deliberations on the ethics case filed against Villar over the issue but the presidential candidate remained confident that the controversy had not affected voters’ preferences in May.
Legarda said it was important that people see members of Team Villar during the campaign sorties.
“We’re aiming for a 100 percent conversion. With less than 70 days to go before election day, we’ll be seeing more yellow turn to orange,” she said.
Villar vowed that his team would have more sorties in order to press the flesh and get more people to see them on the campaign trail.
Running mates Senators Manuel Villar and Loren Legarda faced the media, on Friday, looking and feeling confident that the crowd turnout in their barnstorming across the country was a more reliable indicator of voters’ preference rather than the latest Pulse Asia survey that showed them trailing behind the tandem of Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel Roxas.
“Let your videos speak for themselves. Let your photos speak for themselves. That’s the real survey. The 1,800 respondents (of Pulse Asia), I respect that. That’s a guide. That’s okay. But if you look at their (Aquino’s and Roxas’) figures , they’ve dropped 20 percent (since last year). They’ve got a big problem,” Legarda, of the Nacionalist People’s Coalition (NPC), said in a press conference here.
“We can see Noynoy and Mar free fall,” she added.
For his part, Villar, the Nacionalista Party standard-bearer, even said he was “quite happy” that Aquino was just ahead of him by a single digit, noting how in the previous surveys, especially last year, he had to contend with the latter’s double digit survey leads.
“I am quite happy with it. As I’ve said before, as long as it’s a single digit (lead), we’ll be happy. At nangangahulugan lamang na tuloy-tuloy naman yan, dikit naman. Basta nag-iimprove ka, okay naman. At sabi ko matagal pa iyang labanan (The numbers are close. For as long as we are improving, that’s OK. And as I always say, the race is long and is not over yet),” Villar said.
He was quite wary, however, that the survey was conducted around the time of the 24th anniversary of the Edsa People Power 1, which most Filipinos associated with Aquino’s late mother, former President Corazon Aquino.
Villar predicted a close fight between the presidency and a vice presidency, but still boasted of a united team that he said was getting stronger.
In such a situation where a close fight was in the offing, he said, the Nacionalista Party was gaining ground over the Liberal Party.
It was another reason that Villar, the party president, said that he was happy with the Pulse Asia survey result.
But Villar debunked the survey’s observation that his following in Mindanao had weakened based on the survey result, saying he and his team received a warm welcome in Southern Mindanao where they had barnstormed for a week.
Pulse Asia noted that the survey was conducted at the height of the Senate’s plenary deliberations on the ethics case filed against Villar over the issue but the presidential candidate remained confident that the controversy had not affected voters’ preferences in May.
Legarda said it was important that people see members of Team Villar during the campaign sorties.
“We’re aiming for a 100 percent conversion. With less than 70 days to go before election day, we’ll be seeing more yellow turn to orange,” she said.
Villar vowed that his team would have more sorties in order to press the flesh and get more people to see them on the campaign trail.
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