No reason for LP to rig presidential survey – Drilon

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Franklin Drilon rejected yesterday allegations that the ruling Liberal Party (LP) rigged the survey commissioned by the party to show that Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II now leads Vice President Jejomar Binay in the presidential race.

Drilon said that it makes no sense for the LP to come up with such a stunt because it would be akin to the party fooling itself.

He said there was no reason to alter the results in favor of Roxas just because the LP commissioned the survey.

“If they are saying that we manipulated this, then we are like fools, we are just fooling ourselves,” Drilon said.

“The LP paid for the survey. We are saying that yes, it was commissioned by the party. But it does not mean that we manipulated the results. You would just be fooling yourself that way. It’s a commissioned survey and this is what came out,” he added.

The survey pitted Roxas against Binay one-on-one as they are the only two politicians who have declared intention to run for president in next year’s elections.

Sen. Grace Poe, who has been leading the surveys on voter preferences on presidential candidates, was not included in the LP-commissioned survey since she has not yet declared her intention to run for higher office.

In the survey, Roxas led Binay by a huge margin, 53 percent to 37 percent, among 1,200 respondents nationwide.

Roxas has not fared well in previous surveys conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia.

However, the most recent surveys of the two polling firms were conducted before President Aquino anointed Roxas as the presidential candidate of the administration.

“This survey shows that on a one-on-one basis, Secretary Roxas will beat Vice President Binay,” Drilon said.

Roxas has not found a running mate yet but according to Drilon, there are some names being considered.

However, he said that the focus of the LP right now is to raise the numbers of Roxas and not on the search for his running mate.

Binay belittled yesterday the results of the presidential survey commissioned by the LP, saying it was just meant to boost Roxas’ morale.

“They are entitled to that, we respect (the survey results),” he told reporters after attending the Wallace Business Forum in Makati City.

Binay said the opposition also has an internal survey but unlike the LP, they would keep the results to themselves.

Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice, who belongs to the LP, disclosed the survey results on Wednesday.

He refused to name the pollster but described it as a professional survey organization.

Erice revealed the result of the poll ahead of the quarterly surveys of SWS and Pulse Asia this month. 

An opposition lawmaker expressed doubt over the LP-commissioned survey that showed Roxas leading Binay.

1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello said he believes there was no survey at all and that the alleged poll was made to discourage Poe from running for the presidency. 

“I don’t think there was a survey. The spin was intended to discourage Sen. Grace Poe from running for president,” Bello said. 

Other lawmakers from both the administration and opposition blocs said the LP came out with the complete results of the survey that Erice said he commissioned involving only Roxas and Binay.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., for his part, said it would be too early to speculate on the surveys as the perceived presidential aspirants, apart from Binay and Roxas, have yet to file their certificates of candidacy.

“It is not enough that they publish it. They should divulge who did it so we will see if the results are credible. They should say the name of the company because they already made the results public. Otherwise, it is mere propaganda from the head of Congressman Erice and that makes such survey unbelievable,” Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said. 

“In the name of transparency, they should release the results,“ Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian said.

Meanwhile, Roxas said that the administration platform of daang matuwid (straight path) is more than just a person but about the Filipino people.

“It is more than just me, it’s more than President Aquino, but it’s about each and every Filipino.

“In choosing our running mate, the important criteria is the person should believe and follow the straight path to the bones,” Roxas said in Filipino.

The LP has been courting Poe to be Roxas’ vice presidential running mate.

However, the tandem is unlikely as Poe appears to be gearing up for the presidency.

Roxas did not comment if it is time for the administration party to let go of Poe and consider another running mate.

Roxas also declined to comment about reports that Camarines Sur Rep. Lenie Robredo is being pitted against Poe to be his running mate.

He also expressed confidence that the administration would have a strong ticket just before the filing of the certificate of candidacy in October.

Roxas arrived in Dipolog City yesterday to a warm welcome, almost like a presidential reception as people lined the streets leading to the Zamboanga del Norte Convention Center, where he was the keynote speaker of the 24th Mindanao Business Conference (Minbizcon).

He, however, declined to comment on how he was received by the people here, led by Gov. Roberto Uy, as he would rather have the media judge the video footage.

Roxas told reporters that the LP has six more weeks to find his running mate before the filing of certificates of candidacy for the 2016 election. – With Helen Flores, Paolo Romero, Roel Pareño, Cecille Suerte Felipe