Mar survey ratings will continue to go up — LP stalwarts

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) expressed confidence yesterday that the survey ratings of administration standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II will continue to go up.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, LP president, said the direction of Roxas’ survey ratings is more important than the actual figures.

“The actual numbers are static, they were derived from a point in time. But we can see that his numbers are going up while I think some (other presidential candidates) have been going down or have plateaued,” Abaya told the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum.

Roxas placed second in recent presidential surveys. Still leading the polls is Sen. Grace Poe, who is running as an independent.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, a strategist of the LP, said all indications point to Roxas emerging victorious in the 2016 elections.

He cited a recent survey that showed that 89 percent of Filipinos favor the continuance of the administration’s daang matuwid (straight path) governance.

“What’s important to consider is the sentiment of the people, whether they want to continue the government they’ve seen in the past five years. The real candidate here is the daang matuwid,” Abad told the same forum.

He also cited President Aquino’s relatively high survey ratings even towards the end of his term.

“These two (survey ratings) coming together – with the President saying we must have continuity and the people believing in it (straight path) and P-Noy – these will weigh heavily in the minds of the voters,” Abad said.

Erap open to supporting Roxas

Former President and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said he is also open to the possibility of supporting the presidential bid of Roxas.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Estrada admitted that he was having a hard time in choosing the presidential candidate he would endorse and was still weighing his options.

But when asked who he would support, Estrada said he was considering Roxas.

“I might go for Mar (Roxas). He has unquestionable integrity and he was one of the best Cabinet members that I had during my presidency,” he explained.

Estrada earlier said his choice for president was trimmed down to two, Vice President Jejomar Binay and Poe.

“Binay is my compadre (friend), while Grace is my goddaughter. I will make my decision at the proper time. I will choose the one whose platforms of governance jibed with mine,” he said.

The next president should make peace and order and infrastructure programs his priority, he added. – With Jose Rodel Clapano