Pacquiao has silent majority – PDP-Laban

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — Presidential candidate Sen. Manny Pacquiao has the bulk of the silent majority, based on numerous actual talks with people in the grassroots across regions, according to top officials of PDP-Laban in Eastern Visayas.

In a meeting with the media last Saturday, PDP-Laban Eastern Visayas president Elvayra Gan and PDP-Laban Leyte president Dr. Grace Lopega told reporters that 48 percent of the voters belong to what they call “the silent majority” or those in the D and E groups.

“They are the ones who do not say anything publicly but had decided to vote from their hearts for Pacquiao. We are focusing on the D and E voters primarily because they are the true followers of Pacquiao although it doesn’t mean that we have no followers in the A, B and C groups,” Gan said.

She added that they saw other candidates had been drawing the A, B and C crowds to their rallies, “but they are not the bulk of the voters, although we also have our own share of these crowds.”

The Pacquiao camp is happy to get the bulk of the silent majority, according to Gan.

“That’s what we have and we’re proud of it. We can say now that we are confident to attain the bulk of these voters. We are not bias because we constantly talked to the people and heard their sentiments,” Gan said.

Lopega noted that Pacquiao is the “silent candidate,” meaning, “he has many voters who just keep silent of their choice, based on their visits to various communities in the region where they were able to talk to them personally.”

“They told us that ‘iba naman,’ referring to their choice of a newer breed of politician than the traditional,” Lopega said, pointing out that Pacquiao’s slogan – “Panalo ang mahirap, panalo ang Filipino” – jibes with the silent desires of the poor that the PDP-Laban had talked to.

“We had data to confirm that 48 percent from country’s voting population don’t publicly say who they will vote, but in our rounds across the region, we heard people declare to us that their hearts are for Pacquiao,” Gan added.

Lopega said the people had been expressing their support for Pacquiao “because they want change.”

Gan admitted that surveys showed Pacquiao is scraping bottom.

“Yes, we’re lagging behind in the surveys, but survey results have been clearly manipulated, so the party is relying on actual conversations with the poor. That’s why (we) were able to confirm that there is a ‘silent majority’ among the voters who are choosing Pacquiao against the more popular candidates,” Gan said.

She added that people in Eastern Visayas “believe Pacquiao has the sincerity to lead the country,” especially with his pro-poor program primarily the Libreng Pabahay (Free Housing) program that he will implement once he wins the presidency.”

Gan and Lopega confirmed that there are already 38 million across the country who, this early, had submitted applications to avail themselves of the program.

“These papers are already encoded and processed at the PDP-Laban’s national headquarters. We already received more applications from Eastern Visayas, and we will be sending these to Manila for inclusion to what we already have nationwide,” Gan said.

“We are happy that a lot are supporting our next president, Pacquiao, and his project. This is how many people believe in him,” she added.

Gan explained that once Pacquiao becomes president, he will act to allocate funds for Libreng Pabahay.

Regarding the sites where the houses shall be constructed, Pacquiao will utilize all idle government-owned lands in every region, although there are really kind people who will donate their lands for this project, according to Gan.

Lopega said a concerned citizen in Ormoc City had already donated his 10-hectare property to be used for Pacquiao’s Libreng Pabahay.

“We have another site in Leyte, Leyte; one in Kananga, Leyte; and another in Basey, Samar,” Gan added.

Pacquiao is scheduled to arrive in Tacloban City for a three-day sortie around Eastern Visayas, from today until Thursday, to conclude the party’s coalition with grassroots groups supporting his presidential bid.

Region 8 is the bastion of Bongbong Marcos, but PDP-Laban regional officials said they are confident that Pacquiao has the bulk of the silent majority in the region.

Gan and Lopega said Pacquiao’s grand rally will be held tomorrow at the RTR Plaza in Tacloban. His sorties will start today in Catarman, Northern Samar followed by a visit to Calbayog City down to Catbalogan City in Western Samar, and then to Borongan City, Eastern Samar before the Tacloban event.

“After Tacloban, Pacquiao will have a caravan on April 28 in Southern Leyte, and then in Ormoc City, where he will lead in the groundbreaking of his Libreng Pabahay program in a 10-hectare donated land there,” Gan said.