Loren: Don't count me out yet

MANILA, Philippines - As far as Sen. Loren Legarda is concerned, the vice presidential race is a toss-up between her and Liberal Party bet Sen. Mar Roxas and not between the latter and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino candidate Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who were reported in recent surveys to be tied.

Legarda’s party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), urged her rivals not to count Legarda out of the race yet.

The NPC cited the pre-election survey of the Issues and Advocacy Center (The Center) rather than the surveys of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia.

Official SWS survey results conducted last May 2-3 showed that Roxas and Binay were tied at 37 percent while Legarda came in a far third.

NPC spokesman Rex Gatchalian used the April 26-May 2 survey of The Center with 2,400 respondents, where Legarda (29 percent) ranked second to Roxas (34 percent), while Binay placed third with 25 percent.

“It only proves that the fight remains a tight one and in the end, we believe that Loren will emerge victorious because we believe that people are discerning enough to know that she has a better platform,” Gatchalian stressed.

He also said The Center’s results were “more acceptable because the demographic profile of the respondents were clearly indicated and identified.”