‘Ratings of Team PNoy bets show trust in gov’t’

MANILA, Philippines - The continued dominance of the senatorial candidates of the administration in pre-election surveys is a clear indication of the trust and confidence of the people in President Aquino, Team PNoy campaign manager Sen. Franklin Drilon said yesterday.

Drilon said the May election is a test of the performance of the first three years of the Aquino administration.

“We are pleased with the result that nine of our candidates are in the winning column. We will continue to work so that we will have more candidates get into the winning column,” Drilon said.

Only three senatorial bets of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) landed in the top 12 of a nationwide Pulse Asia survey conducted from March 16 to 20.

Re-electionist senators Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero, both of Team PNoy, topped the survey with 55.3 percent and 51.5 percent, respectively.

The other candidates who made it to the top 12 were Sen. Alan Cayetano (Team PNoy), Grace Poe (Team PNoy), Sen. Koko Pimentel (Team PNoy), former Las Pinas Rep. Cynthia Villar, Nancy Binay (UNA), Bam Aquino (Team PNoy), San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito (UNA), Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV (Team PNoy), Sen. Gringo Honasan (UNA) and Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara (Team PNoy).

Former senators Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Ma. Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal and former Akbayan party list Rep. Risa Hontiveros of Team PNoy have yet to make it to the top 12 in any of the recent surveys.

Drilon said they would “sharpen the messaging” of the three candidates that will focus on their respective platforms.

Far from over

Pulse Asia president Ronald Holmes said the senatorial race is far from over even if recent surveys showed similar results. He said voter preferences could still change in the run-up to the elections.

Holmes noted that the number of senatorial candidates who have statistical chances of winning is higher based on recent surveys.

“I wouldn’t say that the movement is wild but the number of people tied in specific positions is more than what we’ve seen in the past. We’re seeing statistical ties in higher ranks from fourth to 10th (places),” Holmes said in an interview with ANC.

Meanwhile, political analyst Ramon Casiple said the move of UNA to drop Legarda, Escudero and Poe in their lineup could have affected their standing.

“The dropping of Chiz, Loren Legarda and Poe as common candidates I think is a big factor in recent weeks. That (votes from UNA) is really substantial. It’s very much possible she (Poe) can be overtaken,” Casiple said in the same television interview.

Casiple said Poe, daughter of the late the late action king Fernando Poe Jr. and veteran actress Susan Roces, could not just depend on name recall.

“It should come from other factors, she (Poe) has to show something beyond the name,” said Casiple. “She has to reinvent herself.”

In the case of Escudero, Casiple said he does not see the senator’s rift with the parents of his girlfriend Heart Evangelista significantly affecting his ranking in surveys. But he said Escudero should be able to “manage well” the issue since it is “is getting personal.”

Meanwhile, the senatorial candidates of UNA are unfazed by the latest Pulse Asia survey.

Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile said a candidate’s standing in surveys could rise or fall depending on the public’s perception at a given time.

“We are realistic. We know it is going to be a tight race,” Enrile told reporters yesterday.

When asked if the survey worries him, Enrile said, “We are running scared whether we are placing high or low in the survey.” –  With Helen Flores, Delon Porcalla, Alexis Romero, Jose Rodel Clapano