El Shaddai, INC, Muslim group back Atienza for mayor

MANILA, Philippines - Former environment secretary Lito Atienza has been endorsed by the religious group Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) and El Shaddai, the former mayor’s camp said yesterday in a statement. Atienza was also endorsed by the Muslim community and got the unanimous support of the Parish Councils of Manila, as well as the solid backing of majority of the barangay chairmen, kagawads and tanods and pro-poor organizations.

The camp of Atienza also cited a gain of five percent of the votes. “It is widely known that the Iglesia ni Cristo has a wide follower in the city. With the endorsement of the group, Atienza gains another five percent solid votes,” the statement read.

The Atienza camp, quoting El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde, said that “Manila needs a pro-life mayor. Atienza is not only pro-life, but also pro-good government.” Msgr. Mel David, one of the spiritual advisers of Atienza, said the former mayor is pro-God.

PMAP president Ronald Lumbao said they endorsed Atienza because they believe that only Atienza has the genuine heart to help the poor. “His programs answer the needs of the poor community of Manila,” Lumbao said.

The Muslim community had also rallied behind the candidacy of Atienza as he has and will always keep Manila friendly to all regardless of religion and belief.

Meanwhile, a total of 650 out of the 897 barangay chairmen, and most of the kagawads and tanods said they have seen the difference on how the former mayor and the present mayor handled the city.

They said it is Atienza who has a genuine heart to help the people, specially the poor.

Latest survey

In related developments, with four days left before the May 10 elections, former Philippine National Police chief retired Gen. Avelino “Kuya Sonny” Razon moved past former Mayor Lito Atienza in a recent survey serving notice that he’s not a pushover in the mayoral race of Manila.

Incumbent Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim continues to lead the survey conducted by The Issues and Advocacy Center (The Center) from April 26 to May 2 in the six districts of the city.

Razon came up with a series of strong second-place finishes behind Lim in the city’s five districts gaining the preference of some 28.33 percent or 680 of the 2,400 respondents who were surveyed by The Center.

The Center survey which has a margin of error of + 2.8 percent and a confidence level in excess of 95 percent, used the widely accepted multi-stage probability sampling method with a skip interval of four to five houses to obviate any bias. The Center also adopts what it described as the talk-back mechanism to authenticate its results.

Ed Malay, director of The Center, said that Razon generated 28 percent, 25 percent, 27 percent, 31 percent and 33 percent in the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth districts, respectively, which is good for second place behind Lim.

He placed third with 26 percent in the fifth district, which was dominated by Atienza.

Lim continues to lead the mayoral race with 43 percent, 39 percent, 37 percent, 36, and 38 percent in the five districts and 31 percent in the 5th district.

Based on these statistics, Malay said Lim remains as the heavy favorite in Manila’s mayoral elections since he currently enjoys the advantage of being the incumbent chief executive of the city. But it has also become clear that he will be crowded at the top by Razon, who is fast emerging as an alternative choice of the people of Manila.

Suffice it to say, the people of Manila could be looking at Razon as an alternative to Lim and Atienza who have governed the City of Manila in the last 18 years. Razon was not given much of a chance when he decided to enter the mayoral race in Manila sometime last year with many political observers claiming it was rather late in the day given the fact that he will be contending with two of the biggest political heavyweights in the City of Manila – Lim and Atienza.

Unfazed

But Razon was unfazed as he doggedly pursued a grassroots-based campaign to introduce himself as well as his program to revive Manila and transform it into the premier metropolis it once was.

While all three candidates boast of sterling credentials, Malay said it appears from the survey statistics that Manileños are beginning to take into consideration the future state of the city given the current political and economic environment prevailing in the city when ranged against the technological and economic advances of major urban centers in neighboring countries such as Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Vietnam, Hongkong, Seoul, Taiwan and Japan.

Malay said that while Lim may be enjoying an advantage being the incumbent mayor and is in command of the vast resources of the city, still the mayoral elections in Manila will most probably turn into a down-the-wire contest as the three contenders go into the final stretch of this current political campaign.

The power and strength of the youth votes may also come into play on May 10 with Razon enjoying an edge in this segment with 43 percent of the respondents with ages ranging from 18-25 years of age.

Razon also is the preferred choice of respondents in the ABC class with 44 percent as well as those in the D1 class which consists of respondents who own homes. He is also the choice in the 26-35 years old bracket with 41 percent and those in the 46-55 years old bracket with 44 percent.  – With Non Alquitran