Representatives Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur and Eduardo Veloso of Leyte said they disagreed with the findings of Social Weather Stations in a recent survey that the two former presidents’ endorsement of senatorial candidates are worth more than the endorsement of Mrs. Arroyo.
"Their magic has gone. This myth was exposed to the whole world after the former presidents’ combined efforts to oust President Arroyo failed twice," the two said.
They said the SWS findings were intended to boost the chances in the May 14 elections of the candidates Estrada and Mrs. Aquino are endorsing.
In television advertisements, Estrada is endorsing the entire Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial ticket, although he has some political ads that support the candidacy specifically of former senator John Osmeña, who is seeking to return to the Senate on an anti-Expanded Value Added Tax platform.
Mrs. Aquino, on the other hand, is endorsing only one GO candidate, her son Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III.
On July 8, 2005, at the height of the "Hello, Garci" scandal, Mrs. Aquino joined mounting calls for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation. In the House of Representatives, Noynoy supported efforts to impeach Mrs. Arroyo, which failed twice.
Over the weekend, Noynoy Aquino said the President was out to embarrass his mother by making sure he loses in next month’s elections.
Cagas and Veloso warned the two former presidents not to get wrong ideas from the SWS survey results.
They said the findings could give Estrada and Mrs. Aquino "a false sense of power and clout."
"That’s the problem with surveys. More often than not, their results are false because these are based on perception, not facts. Erap and Cory might be misled to believe that their charisma and strength remain unchanged," they said.
"The whole world has seen how the Erap and Cory magic was reduced to a sputtering parlor trick when the masses did not even bother to join their Arroyo ouster plots," they said. – Jess Diaz