Robredo on surveys: It’s not over until it’s over

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines  – Presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday said her nine-point rise in the latest Pulse Asia pre-election survey is proof that the efforts of her volunteers and the entire campaign are now paying off.

Unfazed by the 32-point lead of rival Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Vice President said the latest survey showed that momentum is on their side.

“We are already seeing this even before it came out. We saw it in our provincial surveys; we saw that the movement and trajectory is on the rise. If there is one lesson that I learned in all of these elections, it’s not over until it’s over,” she said, citing the case of her predecessor, former vice president Jejomar Binay, who had a come-from-behind win in the 2010 elections.

The Vice President also took another shot at the so-called “Solid North” with a series of activities here in Pangasinan, including attending an education forum organized by the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines (COCOPEA). She also met with Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Soc Villegas and campaigned in the municipalities of Bani and Villasis before the grand rally in Dagupan.

In the people’s rally in Villasis, vice presidential candidate Kiko Pangilinan’s speech was interrupted by successive chants from a group of Marcos supporters who shouted his initials “BBM” and flashed his hand sign inside the public auditorium. Pangilinan appeared undisturbed and continued his speech while Leni-Kiko supporters simply ignored them.

The Vice President said she is more hopeful of the results of the upcoming elections in the province, noting that she lost “miserably” in Pangasinan in the 2016 vice presidential race.

“I am more hopeful because the volunteers have self-organized… The active involvement of the different sectors was not here before, so I am more hopeful that I will get higher numbers,” she added.

During the COCOPEA forum, Robredo outlined her plans for the education sector, including declaring an “education crisis” to address issues such as quality of education, support for teachers and students and the private education sector.

Switch to Leni

A month before the May 9 polls, another volunteer group backing the candidacy of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso has switched to Robredo.

At a press conference in Tacloban City yesterday, former Villareal, Samar vice mayor Babam Cabuenos, provincial coordinator for Samar of the volunteer group Warays for Isko, said that considering the lead of Marcos in pre-election surveys, the best option to take is to rally behind the “strongest bet based on credible, empirical and objective data and criteria, under the strategy of tactical alliance building.”

“At this point of the ballgame, it’s not yet too late for Mayor Isko and the other contenders to swallow their pride to reach out to other candidates’ teams to come together and rally with the most formidable non-Marcos candidate, if only for the sole purpose of preventing a return of the most-maligned Marcos regime,” Cabuenos said, referring to Robredo who placed second in recent presidential surveys.

Cabuenos said their respect for the Manila mayor remains the same. “But we have to come to terms with reality and make a stand in the open in order not to give him false hopes,” he said, claiming his group has 6,000 members, including municipal coordinators in every town.

Earlier, Ikaw Muna Pilipinas Cebu chapter dropped Moreno for Robredo, saying she is the only candidate who can prevent a Marcos restoration. –  Helen Flores, Eva Visperas