Roxas, Robredo hit rivals: Why distrust election surveys now?

Bea Cupin

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Roxas, Robredo hit rivals: Why distrust election surveys now?

Alecs Ongcal

The administration tandem returns to Bicol in the remaining days of the campaign

ALBAY, Philippines – Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II and running mate Leni Robredo on Thursday, May 5, chided their rivals for distrusting preference surveys that showed the tandem in an upward trend. 

The latest ABS-CBN survey conducted by Pulse Asia, Inc., showed Roxas in a statistical tie for second, edging former front runner Senator Grace Poe by 2 percentage points. Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte led the race with 10 percentage points more than Roxas. 

Robredo, meanwhile, is in a virtual tie with former lone survey front runner Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The elections will be on Monday, May 9. (READ: Guide to the Philippine elections)

Nung sila ang namamayagpag sa surveys, aba, pinaka-the best, pinaka-credible, dapat paniwalaan ang survey. Ngayon na pababa sila sa survey, hindi dapat paniwalaan. Eh this is the same survey,” Roxas told reporters during a chance interview in Legazpi City. 

(When they led the surveys, they said it was the best, the most credible. Now that they’re down, they’re saying it shouldn’t be believed. But this is the same survey.) 

In a separate interview, Robredo hit Marcos as well. 

Alam mo, iyong number one siya, naniniwala siya. Ngayong hindi na siya number one, hindi siya naniniwala. Hindi lang naman ito iyong survey na number 1 ako. Ako naman, noong number 6 ako, number 4, naniniwala ako kasi ginagawa naming iyon na guide,” said the Camarines Sur representative on the sidelines of a sortie in Ligao. 

(You know when he was number one, he believed the survey. Now that he isn’t, he doesn’t believe it. This isn’t the first survey I topped. When I ranked 6th or 4th, I believed in those surveys and used them as a guide.) 

Both Roxas and Robredo started with dismal numbers. When Roxas declared his candidacy, he barely hit 10% in preference polls. Robredo’s numbers were even worse. The first-time legislator started with a low of 1%, and had roughly 4% voters’ preference when she announced her vice presidential bid. 

Bicol miting de avance

The tandem barnstormed the Bicol region on Thursday, visiting the provinces of Sorsogon, Catanduanes, Albay, and Camarines Sur. In the evening, the two will hold their second “miting de avance” in Naga CIty to cap the 2016 campaign period. President Benigno Aquino III, LP chairman, is also expected to attend. 

Roxas emphasized the support of Sorsogon allies during his visit there, insisting that it was proof that local allies are still with the ruling party. Sorsogon is the home province of Poe’s running mate Senator Francis Escudero. 

Provincial leaders in Camarines Sur led by the influential Villafuertes are backing the candidacy of Poe while supporting Robredo, whose hometown in Naga City. 

More recently, Albay Governor Joey Salceda, former provincial chairman of the LP in Albay, switched sides and declared support for Poe. Salceda did the same in 2010 when he moved to the LP even after he pledged support for PDP-Laban bet Gilberto Teodoro. 

Salceda joined Aquino during the inauguration of the Yawa bridge Thursday. The governor was supposedly seen wearing white, Poe’s campaign color. – Rappler.com

 

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Bea Cupin

Bea is a senior multimedia reporter who covers national politics. She's been a journalist since 2011 and has written about Congress, the national police, and the Liberal Party for Rappler.