Duterte won’t dent Mar’s ratings, allies say

MANILA, Philippines - Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s entry in the presidential race won’t make much of a dent on the ratings of Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II, even in Mindanao, his allies in the House of Representatives said.

Representatives Alfred Vargas of Quezon City and Xavier Jesus Romualdo of Camiguin said Duterte has been figuring in presidential surveys months ago, as well as in political analyses before he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president.

“I think, he was always treated as a candidate even before,” Romualdo said. “So even now that he’s officially declared (his plan to run for president), I don’t think it would make a very big difference.”

Vargas said the public should not be too focused on a candidate’s survey rating, but instead look at the trend.

“The bulk of undecided voters will swing to Roxas, ” he said. “His (Roxas) track record will speak for itself, and that’s what the people will appreciate,” he said.

Romualdo and Youth Against Corruption and Poverty Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez, who is from Mindanao, said it is not automatic that Duterte will be able to sweep the Mindanao votes, estimated at over 11 million.  

“We’re not regionalistic that when a candidate comes from our place, we automatically give our support,” Romualdo said. “We always look at the qualifications.”

Lopez said: “Davao City is not the entire Mindanao, it is not the entire 82 provinces; it is just one area or one region.”

Roxas has been placing second or third in various presidential surveys consistently topped by independent candidate Sen. Grace Poe.

Liberal Party vice presidential aspirant Rep. Leni Robredo expressed optimism that her survey ratings will improve in the coming months.

“My awareness is still very low. I have to exert more effort going around, introducing myself,” she said. “I must work on introducing myself, many people still don’t know me.” She continues to rely on volunteers to help in her campaign, Robredo said.

“I entered the race without resources or anything,” she said. “I never expected to enter this kind of fight.” 

Her campaign manager, Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, said her campaign is anchored on the spirit of volunteerism, the spirit of EDSA People Power II.

“That’s the way she’s led for the past years since she’s been a congressperson and that’s the way she will lead when she becomes our next vice president,” he said on the sidelines of the opening of the Robredo Tsinelas Volunteer Center along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.