Senator Bongbong Marcos is the leading choice of Filipino voters, according to a vice presidential preference poll completed within a week prior to the May 9 general elections. The last pre-election surveys were conducted by the two most reliable pollsters in the country, Social Weather Stations (SWS) and the Standard’s Laylo Report.
In the latest SWS poll done between May 1 to 3, Marcos regained the lead with 29% out of 4,500 survey respondents nationwide. He was followed by lone female candidate, Rep. Leni Robredo of Camarines Sur, who garnered 28%. Four other candidates are also running for the second highest post in the land, but their chances are virtually nil.
Marcos’ ranking jumped four points compared to his performance in the immediately preceding SWS polls taken on April 18 to 20. On the other hand, Robredo inched up two percentage points over the same period. Both candidates now have double-digit leads versus their other rivals.
Meanwhile, the Laylo Report published by national broadsheet The Standard revealed similar results. Marcos garnered 30% of 3,000 likely voters who were polled between April 27 and May 1. Close behind was Robredo at 29%, and a far third was Senator Chiz Escudero at 20%. The three other candidates had a combined 18%.
The Philippine Star columnist Babe Romualdez considers the Laylo Research Strategies (LRS) firm as the most credible polling organization in the country. It was founded by Pedro Laylo Jr. in 2001 after he retired from SWS. Laylo obtained his master’s degree in political science from the University of Connecticut’s Roper Center with a concentration in public opinion research.
Romualdez said billionaire businessman Enrique Razon Jr. “has been relying on the Laylo surveys even when he was still the owner of The Standard (then known as Manila Standard Today) to assess the political landscape and gauge voters’ choices.” According to Romualdez, the shipping tycoon regularly commissions LRS to conduct surveys because its methodology is the most detailed and comprehensive with the biggest sample size representing all 18 regions of the Philippines.
The camp of presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte has warned the public of yet another fake survey that will show administration bet Mar Roxas ahead of the other presidential candidates.
The spurious survey is designed to condition the minds of the Filipino people that Mar Roxas is the real frontrunner and will most likely win the presidential race, according to Leoncio Evasco Jr, the national campaign manager of Duterte.
The fake survey will be reportedly released on May 7 or two days before election day, said Evasco.
“The survey is both grossly questionable and downright illegal,” Evasco said in a statement Thursday. “The Commission on Elections prohibits the release of survey results three days before the election. Obviously, this survey is designed to condition the minds of the Filipino people that Mar Roxas is the real frontrunner.”
Over the weekend, an obviously manipulated survey conducted by an unknown agency called D’Strafford placed Roxas on top of the presidential race.
Evasco warned that the fake surveys will be used as anchors for the cheating mechanism of the administration.
“These are prelude to cheating and are all part of a system of election fraud laid down by the administration,” said Evasco. “We have warned the public already, and we are again warning the Filipino people of possible massive cheating in the elections on Monday. The administration will be relentless in its attempts to subvert the will of the Filipino people.”
“The people must foil the evil plan of the administration,” he added.
“We should not belittle the desperation of Roxas, Aquino, and the yellow ilk because they are in power and in control of the resources, including funds,” Evasco said.
It is only the people who can stop this, Evasco said.
“They may have the money and the machinery, but we have each other and the collective desire for real change,” he said.
We welcome the endorsement of the Iglesia ni Cristo INC). This is a big boost to our campaign particularly to thwart attempts by the administration to cheat the elections.
The LP is claiming to be in a momentum, an empty boast but clearly laying the premises and conditioning the minds of our people on the grand fraud they plan to unleash with unbelievable results on election day.
This endorsement shows that Duterte’s advocacy for #TunayNaPagbabago has resonated to almost all our people and all our church formations affected by the rising crimes and drugs, continuing corruption and government neglect, poverty and sufferings of our people.
These issues are close to the hearts of our moral leaders and the various churches have their own campaigns to end this malady.
Hence, we have received various expressions of support from many religious groups and religious leaders not just from the INC. But fully aware of its church discipline in voting, this INC endorsement is truly significant.
We thank the INC as well all other religious groups and religious leaders.
In fact, we are very grateful that no less than the Pope himself has written to Duterte and saying his own prayers. Peter Lavina, Head of Media Group
All the voter preference survey show that Rodrigo Duterte enjoys a comfortable lead over all the other presidential candidates. The most recent Pulse Asia survey gives the Davao mayor a 35% share of the vote, a full 12% over second-running Grace Poe.
In actual votes, Poe is trailing Duterte by over 5 million votes. That is awesome lead, considering we are only a little more than a week before elections.
Most analysts are about ready to concede the presidential contest to Duterte — even as the survey leader is feared by big businessmen. Duterte is a political outsider, much like former president Joseph Estrada. He is feared by the big businessmen because he is not under the spell, much less under the control, of the oligarchs.
The oligarchs are scrambling to stop Duterte. They are financing several parallel black propaganda efforts to try and prevent the tough-talking mayor from becoming president. At the moment, it does not seem possible to make their rpeferred presidential candidate Mar Roxas win. Roxas is too deep in the rankings to make any effort to cheat the elections and install him truly impracticable.
Should they fail to stop Duterte, the second option of the oligarchs is to make a “friendly” vice-presidential candidate win in the elections. They preference is obviously for LP vice-presidential candidate Leni Robredo. They think they can make her win, given the smaller margin between her and survey leader Bongbong Marcos. In the closing day, we are likely to see minions of the oligarchy ganging up on Marcos in a manner more severe than the attacks mounted against Duterte.
The thinking, among the oligarchic circles, is that it might be easier to dislodge Duterte (as the elitists did with Joseph Estrada) if the second-in-line is Robredo. The LP vie-presidential candidate (like her standard-bearer) is seen to be “friendlier” to big business.
Therefore, in the distant possibility that Robredo overtakes Marcos and wins the vice-presidential elections, this will be a formula for political instability down the road. Unable to get their way with Duterte, the oligarchs could “neutralize’ the Davao mayor either by fomenting political instability or moving outright at impeaching the new president. This possibility will produce yet another period of political turmoil for the country. The oligarchs do not care is political instability makes life difficult for the poor, as long as they maintain their hold over the nation’s economy.
A conspiracy to create instability and make things difficult for a Duterte presidency will be less likely if Bongbong Marcos wins the vice-presidency. Like Duterte, Marcos is independent of the oligarchs. It will make little sense for the oligarchic gangs to conspire against a Duterte presidency if the successor is Marcos. Therefore a Marcos vice-presidency will be helpful in consolidating a Duterte presidency. By dissuading the oligarchs from moving against the duly-elected president, a Marcos victory will help ensure that reforms are undertaken in a more stable political environment.
BUSINESS, POLITICS, TOURISM, NEWS, DAVAO CITY, MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
The thinking, among the oligarchic circles, is that it might be easier to dislodge Duterte (as the elitists did with Joseph Estrada) if the second-in-line is Robredo. The LP vie-presidential candidate (like her standard-bearer) is seen to be “friendlier” to big business.
TOPNEWSNOW 