Says survey numbers ‘respectable’ at this time
BY WENDELL VIGILIA and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
THE camp of Vice President Leni Robredo is not alarmed over her poor showing in the recent Pulse Asia survey on presidential and vice presidential preferences for the 2022 national elections.
Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez expressed confidence that the Vice President’s survey numbers will eventually shoot up, once she declares her intention to run for president.
Robredo’s run, however, is still up in the air because she has not even decided if she will join the presidential race.
“We remain confident, when, and if, she decides to run for president, the numbers will be there. Hindi pa nagsisimula ang laban (The fight has not yet started),” Gutierrez said.
The Pulse Asia survey, conducted from June 7 to 16, showed Robredo at sixth place among possible presidential candidates with only 6 percent, followed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson who got four percent.
Gutierrez said Robredo’s numbers are “respectable considering that she has been focused on working on COVID-19 response initiatives and has paid no attention to the frantic positioning for 2022 at all.”
“Yung iba diyan, deny ng deny na tatakbo, pero nagkalat naman ang mukha at pangalan sa mga billboard at tarp. Si VP Leni, trabaho lang ang tutok (While others deny they’re running, their faces and names are all over billboards and tarpaulins. VP Leni is just focusing on work),” he said.
Robredo, the leader of the opposition, can opt to run for congresswoman if she decides not to join the presidential race.
However, while Robredo is still in the process of deciding, the Liberal Party has been working on her main platforms, getting inputs from chapters and other sectors to prepare for 2022.
The Pulse Asia survey showed presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio topping the list with 28 percent, followed by Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso with 14 percent which was almost tied with former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s 13 percent. Ten percent of the respondents preferred Sen. Grace Poe to be their president while eight percent are for Sen. Manny Pacquiao.
Topping the vice presidential race is President Duterte, with 18 percent. Duterte has been teasing the public about running for the second highest post in the country, as his supporters in the PDP-Laban party want him to. His latest statement is that his remarks about a possible candidacy were meant merely to scare his political opponents, but reiterated he would consider running it if will be good for the country.
House majority leader Martin Romualdez said the Duterte-Duterte tandem will be the team to beat next year, and the result of the latest Pulse Asia survey is just “a validation of our people’s confidence and satisfaction on the Duterte’s brand of public service.”
“For the Filipino people, a Duterte-Duterte tandem is the dream team in 2022,” said Romualdez, president of Lakas-CMD which is set to renew its alliance with Sara’s regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP).
Romualdez said the Pulse Asia result conforms with other survey findings that show Sara is the leading candidate in the 2022 presidential elections.
“We expect her numbers to climb even higher when the next survey covers the period after she indicated her openness to run for President,” said the lawmaker, who is the President’s personal choice for the vice presidential race.
Romualdez said the voters’ preference for Duterte as vice president is no longer surprising and “he (already) has the vice presidential post in the bag if ever he decides to seek it in 2022.”
“He (elder Duterte) is the most qualified, most experienced and most trusted candidate for the job,” he said.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said if the President Duterte decides to run for vice president in 2022, he would do so regardless of whether he has the support of the PDP-Laban or other parties.
Roque was responding to a question about the pronouncement of a PDP-Laban official who said Duterte may be ousted from the party if he runs for vice president based on an illegal resolution.
The resolution referred to was the one passed by a faction in the party, led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, the party’s vice chairman, on May 31 during a national assembly opposed by Pacquiao, the party’s president. The resolution asked Duterte to run for vice president and gave him the authority to choose who will be the party’s presidential candidate.
Roque said it is up to the party members if they would expel the President, but said the membership of the administration party, before Duterte joined it, was so small it could fit in a “jeepney.”
“Bahala po sila kung anong gagawin nila… Alam naman po natin halos wala naman miyembro po ng PDP-Laban bago naging presidente si Pangulong Duterte… isang jeepney lang po ang PDP-Laban bago po sumali diyan si Presidente Duterte. Kung aalisin ninyo po si Presidente sa PDP-Laban, balik kayo sa isang jeepney (It is up to them… We know that PDP-Laban did not have many members before President Duterte became president… they could fit one jeepney before President Duterte joined. If they remove the President from PDP, you would go back to one jeepney),” he said.
Rufina Pines Arcega, chairwoman of the PDP-Laban’s national education committee, said many members of the party do not agree with Duterte running for vice president and if he accepts the endorsement based on the alleged illegal resolution, he could be removed from the party for violating the rules.
The PDP-Laban faction supporting Pacquiao expelled Cusi and two other officials last week but Roque said Duterte still “recognizes” Cusi’s leadership of PDP-Laban and will attend the July 17 meeting organized by the latter.
Pacquiao’s camp has urged members not to attend the assembly that would be held in Clark in Pampanga.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, PDP Laban executive vice chairman, said Pacquiao cannot be expelled by the PDP-Laban for his “criticisms” against the President because he is only exercising the right of free speech, which the party recognizes.
Pimentel was reacting to Cusi’s statements on Tuesday that Pacquiao can be expelled “because you’re accusing the chairman of the party of ill-doings that you cannot even prove.” Cusi said this can be likened to a “character assassination” because Pacquiao accused the party chairman of “ill-doings” without providing evidence.
Pimentel said Pacquiao only stated that corruption still exists in the government, as claimed by the President in his previous speech.
“The just bloated the issue. There is no issue. What Sen. Manny Pacquiao said was the President better boot out erring individuals because corruption still exists in the government. Even the President himself said that corruption still exists. So what is that?” he said in Filipino.
“The same message as stated by another person is all of a sudden a big deal, but not when stated by another person. Why is it a big deal? Because they need this issue within the party kasi meron silang gustong gawin sa partido, ang problema kasi ayaw nga sabihin.
Mag-usap na lang kami para matapos na ito magkaibigan pa kami (because they want to do something in the party but the problem is that they do not want to tell it. Let us just talk so this problem will be resolved and we will all end up as still friends),” he added.
On Friday last week, the PDP-Laban National Executive Committee expelled Cusi as party vice chairman, along with deputy secretary general Melvin Matibag, and membership committee head Astra Naik for endorsing the potential presidential run of Sara Duterte.
Cusi belittled the order to expel him, saying Pacquiao “demeans himself by resorting to underhand tactics.” — With Raymond Africa
