Kris, Serge no-show in Noynoy’s Tarlac visit

By Maila Ager - Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III on Thursday held his first political rally in his home province, attended by only five of his nine senatorial candidates.

Notably, the gathering dubbed as a "send-off" sortie for Aquino, was not attended by his popular TV host sibling, Kris, or any showbiz personality supporting his presidential bid in 2010.

Present in the campaign sortie were Aquino's running mate, Senator Mar Roxas and his five senatorial bets--former Senator Ralph Recto, Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III, Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, former congressman Nereus Acosta, and Sonia Roco, wife of the late Senator Raul Roco.

Former Senator Franklin Drilon, Muntinlupa Rep. Rufino Biazon and detained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim were a no-show at the event though Drilon was represented by his wife, Mila.

The absence of former Sen. Serge Osmena, a member of Aquino's senatorial ticket, in the event was expected after he left the group because of his strong opposition to Recto's inclusion in the slate.

But Roxas said the group will continue to carry Osmena's name in its ticket until a decision was made at the proper time.

"Sa ngayon, we have nine names but 8 bodies (For now, we have nine names but eight bodies)," Roxas told reporters. "At the proper time, a decision will be made.”

In a separate interview, Aquino said he was still courting his close friend, Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero, to get the latter’s support in the upcoming elections.

Escudero, who has announced he is not pushing through with plans to run for vice president, cited his close friendship with Aquino as one reason why he decided to drop his political ambitions next year.

Hundreds of people, most of them wearing yellow shirts and carrying balloons, streamers and placards, attended the send-off sortie.

Aquino admitted that his hometown would be a "focal battle ground" next year as this was also the considered bailiwick of rival candidate, Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who also happens to be his cousin.

But Roxas was confident that Aquino would get an overwhelming majority support from his provincemates.

Source: politics.inquirer.net

Survey: Noynoy Aquino leads Philippine presidential candidates

A recent survey of voters in the Philippines on presidential candidates in the 2010 elections showed Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd and his running mate Manuel Roxas 2nd would win by big margins, reported the Manila Times.

The survey conducted by Pulse Asia last month indicated Aquino, the Liberal’s standard-bearer, led all presidential candidates with 44 percent of Filipinos expressing support for him. Roxas, his vice presidential candidate, was preferred by almost four in 10 Filipinos—or 37 percent.

Far behind Aquino in the presidential race were Sen Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr (19 percent), Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero (13 percent), and former President Joseph Estrada (11 percent). In another survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS), Aquino received more than a majority with 60 percent.

Pulse Asia said the clamour for clean governance was the top reason for Aquino’s strong support.

“The reason most-often cited in expressing a voting preference for a possible presidential candidate is [Aquino’s] clean public record or, alternatively, not being corrupt,” Pulse Asia said in a statement.

Aquino has recorded few political achievements during his 11 years in Congress. But he is immensely popular because of his mother, who led the “people power” revolution that ended dictator Ferdinand Marcos’s reign in 1986.

Across geographic areas and socioeconomic classes in the latest Pulse Asia survey, Aquino enjoys majority voter preferences in classes A, B and C (51 percent) and in the Visayas (53 percent).

Pulse Asia reported that “with Senator Aquino joining the presidential race, the other personalities who used to be in the lead experienced a decline in their voter preferences.”

“Between August and October 2009, the biggest drop in electoral support is recorded by Vice President Noli de Castro [minus 12 percentage points].”

The voter preferences of Villar and former President Estrada also declined during this period (minus 6 percentage points and minus 8 percentage points, respectively), according to Pulse Asia.

In the vice presidential race, Roxas led other possible candidates for the position: Sen. Loren Legarda (23 percent), Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati City (13 percent) and Vice President de Castro (11 percent).

Roxas also topped in several geographic areas and socioeconomic classes (32 percent to 49 percent).

The Pulse Asia October 2009 Ulat ng Bayan national survey was conducted from October 22 to 30, 2009 using face-to-face interviews of 1,800 representative adults 18 years old and above.

The survey has a nationwide error margin of plus or minus 2 percent and regional margins of error of plus or minus 6 percent for Metro Manila, (plus or minus 4 percent for the rest of Luzon and plus or minus 5 percent for Visayas and Mindanao).

Source: aseanaffairs.com