Isko Moreno, Pacquiao eyeing Marcos’ turf – analyst

MANILA, Philippines — The presidential campaigns of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and Sen. Manny Pacquiao appeared to have shifted their focus to trying to chip away votes from the support base of frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a political analyst said.

In an interview with “The Chiefs” on Cignal’s One News/TV5 on Tuesday night, Stratbase ADR Institute president Dindo Manhit described as “aggressive” the recent posturing of Moreno and Pacquiao against the former senator.

“Suddenly campaigns saw that the opponent is Marcos,” he said.

He cited Pacquiao’s strong stand on pursuing the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family and their cronies as well as “pinpointing weaknesses or even what they consider as opportunities to take away votes from Marcos.”

Moreno, on the other hand, has adopted a campaign narrative that Philippine politics is just about two families – Marcoses and Aquinos – even though four presidents with other surnames served since the fall of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos.

Manhit also noted the decision of the two campaigns to hold their proclamation rallies in Metro Manila and Mindanao, where Marcos has gained considerable support based on recent surveys.

Moreno held his proclamation rally in Manila and Pacquiao in his hometown General Santos City.

“If they do well in both areas, that will be a problem for former senator Marcos because these are two areas, Mindanao and NCR, that have really boosted him to a little over 50 percent last December,” he said.

With the start of the official campaign period this week, Manhit maintained that a lot of things can still happen in the next two months.

“Imagine a (slight) drop, five percent, three percent (in the numbers of Marcos), that would be interesting come end of March,” he said.

“But if we see the consistent numbers after end of March, maybe the elections are over. Things can happen in the next two months,” he added.

The political analyst also noted that initiatives outside of the traditional campaign could make a difference, citing the volunteer-driven campaign of Vice President Leni Robredo and the social media focus on the part of Marcos. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Ramon Lazaro