SWS POLL: VILLAR GAINING GROUND EVEN IN AQUINO'S BAILWICKS
MANILA, JANUARY 11, 2010 (STAR) By Christina Mendez - After successfully narrowing the lead of his main rival, Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential bet Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. moved to “evade” the areas perceived to be the bailiwicks of Liberal Party (LP) candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.NP spokesman Gilbert Remulla said Villar has started to sustain his presence in the areas where he posted strong support as revealed by the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
Remulla noted the SWS survey showed Villar was now the choice of vote-rich Northern-Central Luzon, where Aquino posted big in the previous surveys.
The SWS survey said Villar garnered 41.33 percent in the region, trouncing Aquino who got 31.33 percent. The region of Northern-Central Luzon represents 22.16 percent of the total respondents.
The Dec. 27-29 survey that was released Friday showed the lead of Aquino over Villar was down by 11 points.
In the previous Dec. 5-10 SWS survey, Aquino lorded it over in the region when he garnered 43.33 percent. Villar was second with 30.67 percent.
Another highlight was the number of undecided, which fell from four percent in Dec. 5-10 to only one percent in Dec. 27-28.
The latest SWS survey was commissioned by San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora, who is supporting Villar’s presidential bid.
Aquino garnered 44 percent, down from 46 percent in the Dec. 5-10 national survey, SWS said. Villar placed second with 33 percent, up from 27 percent in the previous Dec. 5-10 survey.
Remulla said the NP predicts Villar would be even with Aquino by March.
Remulla said party members were “happy because we can see that every time Senator Villar goes around the country, the support for him is increasing.”
Remulla added that Villar’s plugs on television and radio apparently boosted the NP standard-bearer’s ratings.
“But it’s not just advertising; it’s the message that you are trying to get across. What’s his message, his vision? He wants the people to prosper,” Remulla said.
Remulla also slammed Aquino for laughing off the latest survey.
“Noynoy’s refusal to accept the results of a scientific survey by a reputable polling firm, which showed his once-formidable lead over his closest rival trimmed to near single digits, reveals a mindset which treats the presidency as something of a birthright,” he said.
Remulla said Aquino found it hard to accept that Villar, a former fish vendor from Tondo, is challenging him.
At a presidential forum sponsored by GMA-7’s dzBB radio, Aquino contested the latest survey results showing his lead is being narrowed down.
Aquino was quoted as saying that “there are surveys that can be bought in Quiapo.”
“When you treat the presidency as a family heirloom that you can inherit on a silver platter then you get unnerved when you read the newsflash that your being president is far from being a done deal,” Remulla said.
“This is the reason he lost his composure during last Saturday’s GMA-7 sponsored presidential candidates’ forum in Ayala Alabang, when he hinted with sarcasm that the outcome of surveys done by the independent SWS can be bought from Quiapo.”
Remulla added he was surprised when Noynoy took a swipe at SWS, “when he had met with glee the previous survey results of the same polling firm that showed him enjoying a commanding lead over his competitors.”
“Now that the same firm, using the same methodology, has come up with a survey that showed that his big lead has evaporated, he begins to question its credibility,” Remulla said.
On the other hand, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, vice chairman of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, said the latest SWS survey would be more dramatic as the campaign kicks off in February.
Puno said the latest SWS survey showing Lakas-Kampi presidential bet Gilbert Teodoro in fourth place would surely improve when local candidates would campaigning in March.
He said the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party has local bets nationwide, which are expected to carry the name of Teodoro in their campaign.
Puno said the recent survey would not be similar to the outcome of the presidential elections on May.
Another presidential bet, Sen. Richard Gordon, said surveys should not be interpreted as the possible outcome on election day.
He stressed the track record of the candidate should be more important than what the survey said.
Gordon said the real survey that should be looked into should be the result of the elections on May 10.
“If you believe in the surveys, then we should not hold the elections anymore, we should continue the surveys,” Gordon said. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mike Frialde
LP: Survey timed with Villar ads By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated January 10, 2010 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III downplayed yesterday the result of the Social Weather Stations special survey showing his rival, Nacionalista Party presidential candidate Manuel Villar Jr., catching up with him.
Aquino and other LP officials said the survey was actually timed with the release of Villar’s massive advertisements in various media, especially on television.
They said it was a strategy to boost one’s rating - conduct the survey after the release of the ads.
Aquino said not all surveys are reliable and some could actually be “bought in Quiapo,” meaning they could be bogus or manipulated.
Aquino said he had been busy with budget deliberations and the joint session of Congress on the imposition of martial law in Maguindanao in the last few weeks of 2009 and had not been campaigning or placing ads like Villar.
He said he would like to follow the law against premature campaigning to the “highest degree.”
“We do not have too much ads and (with what we have) the audience are lucky to get a glimpse of it once in a while,” Aquino said.
“But what is what is surprising to us is that in spite of (all these), we are maintaining our numbers, 46 or 44 percent are statistically the same. (So we think) the people are the ones who are really pushing our campaign,” he said.
The SWS survey conducted on Dec. 27 to 28, 2009 showed that Villar’s ratings increased by six points from 27 to 33 percent, inching closer to Aquino, who obtained a 44 percent rating from 46 percent in the survey last Dec. 5 to 10.
The special December SWS survey showed the gap between Villar and Aquino narrowing to only 11 points from the 19-percentage point difference in the Dec. 5 to 10 survey.
In the same survey, former President Joseph Estrada retained third spot but shed one percentage point to 15 percent from his previous 16 percent.
Coming in fourth is administration bet Gilbert Teodoro, a cousin of Aquino, whose survey performance remained flat at five percent, similar to his Dec. 5 to 10 rating.
Television evangelist Eddie Villanueva’s ratings also did not move at one percent.
Sen. Richard Gordon scored 0.5 percent from his earlier 0.9 percent while Sen. Jamby Madrigal and independent John Carlos de los Reyes tied with 0.4 percent each from their previous 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.
LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch” Abad said Aquino’s over 40 percent core of voters remained intact.
“Clearly, Villar gained not from us but from the rest of the field and mainly because of the sheer volume of advertising money he has been spending, which was timed with their commissioned survey,” Abad said.
“Despite all that, we held our ground with the least expense. We expect to improve our numbers again once our message gets to the air this month,” Abad said.
Aquino’s spokesman, Edwin Lacierda said the survey validated their belief “that our base remains strong.”
“Our momentum is unbroken even at a time when many opponents are desperately trying to bring us down with black propaganda and lies. Their dirty tricks are not working. Our ratings at 44 percent are still the highest ever for any presidential candidate. Former President Joseph Estrada’s peak approval only stood at 42 percent and remained at around 38 percent during the 1998 elections,” Lacierda said.
Online store for Aquino
The LP said “Tindahan ni Noy” had been established to create another avenue for the People’s Campaign.
The LP disclosed this was in response to the deluge of requests for yellow merchandise across the Philippines and abroad.
The Noynoy Aquino New Media Bureau launched Tindahan ni Noy, an online one-stop shop for items supporting the candidacy of Aquino.
Proceeds from Tindahan ni Noy will go to the Kilos Ko Foundation, which allocates the funds for the activities of various volunteer groups supporting Aquino for president.
Peaking early
Meanwhile, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said the problem with Aquino was that he peaked too early and that there was no way for his ratings but to go down if his campaign would not be sustained.
Santiago said over radio station dwIZ that people could still change their minds and that the Filipino electorate were known to be fickle minded during elections.
She also acknowledged the power of the media in convincing voters to go for certain candidates.
Villar justifies ads
Villar said he was making use of catchy and creative advertisements to level the political playing field and at least get the same amount of airtime exposure other presidential bets were enjoying.
“This is my only way to level the playing field. I am not the son of a former president nor was I born rich,” Villar said during the GMA 7-sponsored presidential forum held at the De La Salle Zobel School in Alabang, Muntinlupa City yesterday.
The Nacionalista Party president shared that becoming president of the country is his last dream. - With Pia Lee-Brago
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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