Pimentel on survey: Still a long way to go

MANILA, Philippines — Administration candidates for the 2019 senatorial race are expected to perform better in pre-election surveys once President Duterte and the PDP-Laban party put their full force behind the campaign, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said yesterday. 

In an interview over radio dwIZ, Pimentel, who is also president of PDP-Laban, said it is still too early to make any forecast on how the potential candidates for the 2019 mid-term elections would do, since everything is still based on preliminary lists and scenarios.

Based on the Pulse Asia survey on the 2019 senatorial race, the PDP-Laban only had Pimentel in the top 15 of the choices of the respondents.

Leading the poll were incumbent senators eligible for reelection, led by Sen. Grace Poe who received 70 percent of the votes.

Pimentel said he was happy for his colleagues who managed to perform well in the survey and for his own standing.

While the survey results did not look too good for the ruling PDP-Laban, Pimentel said it is still too early to make any conclusions because a lot of things could still change between now and the start of the campaign period.

“We still have a long way to go. Consider this as a marathon,” Pimentel said. 

He said he expects the situation to change in the coming months after the list of PDP-Laban is finalized and the administration puts its full force behind its candidates.

“Once the President and the entire party start moving, then we will start to feel (the changes),” Pimentel said.

 The process is all part of efforts to strengthen the political party system in the country which, he said, is necessary to put an end to the longstanding practice of turncoatism.

He challenged his partymates from PDP-Laban to help propel its senatorial candidates to victory for a strong party system.

“We want to strengthen party politics in the country. It is the party that should bring about the victory of candidates and not the personal appeal (of the candidates),” Pimentel said.

Earlier this week, Pimentel released a preliminary list of 20 candidates of PDP-Laban, which he said would be narrowed down and finalized between July and September this year. 

Pimentel urged allies of the President whose names were included in the top candidates of the Pulse Asia survey, but who have not expressed their interest in running, to do some soul searching and consider the possibility of entering government service.

Among the individuals Pimentel mentioned was television and radio personality Erwin Tulfo, who landed in seventh to 13th place in the survey.

“If I were Erwin Tulfo, if public service is in his blood, then he should consider this seriously,” Pimentel said, noting Tulfo is not a member of PDP-Laban.

Imee elated

Meanwhile, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos said she is elated with being among the probable winners in the 2019 mid-term elections in the Pulse Asia survey.

Marcos, who attended the Mangunguna Festival in Bolinao, Pangasinan yesterday, grabbed the ninth to 15th places with 32.2 percent of votes.

Marcos said she remains unsure about next year’s senatorial poll.

“But I’m happy that I was included in the Top 15. So let’s see,” she said.– With Eva Visperas