MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Manuel "Mar" Roxas II was unfazed by the latest Pulse Asia survey on presidential candidates and is even hoping that he will top the next one.
Roxas ranked fourth in the Pulse Asia survey conducted from December 4 to 11 behind Vice President Jejomar Binay, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Grace Poe.
READ: Binay regains top spot in Pulse Asia survey
“The most important survey is in May, during the voting itself. We have seen that things are still volatile. Last month, Grace was on top. Last week, it was Duterte. Now, it’s Binay,” Roxas said in a statement.
“Baka sa susunod, tayo na (Maybe next time, we will be the frontrunner),” he added.
Roxas claimed that what is important is he has a clean record, a clear platform and strong evidence showing the benefits of the straight path.
“Tuloy lang ang trabaho natin. (We will just continue with our work),” he added.
Binay, the leader of the opposition party United Nationalist Alliance, was chosen by 33 percent of the respondents while Duterte, the tough-talking mayor who had ugly exchanges with Roxas, was picked by 23 percent.
Poe, the erstwhile survey frontrunner who was hounded by citizenship issues, got 21 percent.
Roxas, the candidate of the Aquino administration was picked by 17 percent of the respondents while Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago was chosen by four percent. – with Levi Mora