Marcos on survey gains: A lot of things can still happen

PAMPANGA, Philippines – Independent vice presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he does not rely on his improving survey ratings, and is working harder instead on getting the support of local leaders and getting his message of unity across.

“We don’t discuss the rating, quite frankly. Ang pinag-uusapan namin ay kung ano ang gagawin, kung sino ang kakausapin sa kampanya. The details of the campaign. Hindi namin masyadong napag-uusapan ‘yung surveys…. Hindi talaga useful sa amin ‘yun,” Marcos said during a press conference at the Clark Freeport Zone on Tuesday, March 29.

(We don’t discuss the rating, quite frankly. What we talk about is what we will do, who we should talk to, the details of the camapaign. We don’t really talk about the surveys. They really aren’t useful to us.)

Reporters had asked him to comment on the latest polls released by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia Research, which both show that he is statistically tied for the top spot with Senator Francis Escudero. (READ: The Scrum: Why Bongbong Marcos might win as VP)

The SWS survey released last March 14 showed Escudero preferred by 28% of respondents, and Marcos by 26%. Escudero rose two percentage points from the previous survey, while Marcos’ performance remained the same.

In the Pulse survey commissioned by ABS-CBN and released March 22, Marcos was slightly ahead with 25% and Escudero with 24%. Marcos improved by 3 percentage points from his rating in the last commissioned poll released on March 15, while Escudero’s rating fell by 1 percentage point.

Administration candidate Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo had 20% from 21%, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano slid one percentage point from 14% to 13%, and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II maintained their ratings at 6% and 5%, respectively.

Marcos said he believes that the latest Pulse Asia survey manifested voters’ reception to his message of unity for the whole country.

“Ipagpapatuloy natin ‘yan. Meron na lang tayong 41 days sa campaign. Sa Pilipinas ang pulitika mabilis ang galaw. Marami pa sigurong mangyayari, marami pang magiging development. Basta pagpapatuloy lang natin ang ating ginagawa. Sa palagay ko maganda naman ang magiging resulta,” he said.

(We will continue with that message. We have 41 days left in the campaign. In Philippine politics, you have to move fast. A lot of things can still happen, there will be more developments. But we will just continue what we’re doing. I think the results will be good.) – Rappler.com