"Here’s what they should do."
"Here’s what they should do."
Can having two pro-administration candidates spell disaster for administration candidates?
That’s what Ed Malay, Executive Director of The Center, thinks so. According to Malay, having two pro-administration political parties—the official pro-administration party is the PDP-Laban while the other unofficial pro-administration party is Hugpong ng Pagbabago, may not be advantageous after all.
While there is some commonality in the lineup of these two parties, the HNP includes Senators Estrada and Revilla, Malay said there is a danger that the negative blitz appearing on social media may eventually affect even the other candidates in the pro-administration lineup.
In The Center’s Pulso ng Pilipino pre-poll survey from Feb. 24-Mar. 1, 2019, at least five incumbent senators gunning for reelection, an equal number of former senators eyeing a comeback and two newcomers are assured of getting elected in the scheduled May 13, 2019 senatorial elections.
According to the survey results, the cast of probable winners in the scheduled midterm polls will certainly include Sen. Grace Poe at no. 1 with 61%, Sen. Cynthia Villar in second with 55%, former senator and Rep. Pia Cayetano with 47% shares the third to fifth spots together with former Sen. Lito Lapid who garnered 46.7% and Sen. Nancy Binay who generated 45.8%.
In sixth place is Sen. Sonny Angara with 40%, and former special assistant to the president bong go whom we referred to as being here, there and everywhere surprising political pundits with a strong 7thposition with 39.4%. Sen. Koko Pimentel is in 8thplace at 37%, and former Sen. Mar Roxas is in 9thspot with 34.3%.
Interestingly, the 10thto 13thplaces remain touch and go with former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada with 32%, former presidential political adviser lawyer Francis Tolentinto at 31.8%, Sen. JV Ejercito with 30% and former PNP chief Bato de la Rosa at 29% although by the looks of it this positioning will probably hold until May 13, 2019.
The only variable is how the negative blitz will affect the candidacy of Jinggoy Estrada. If that happens, Malay said dela Rosa will move up into the rankings and the 12thposition will probably be a fight among Estrada, Revilla, Marcos, Aquino and Osmeña.
Malay said the May 13, 2019 polls may not be as exciting as past elections but what bears watching is how candidates with pending cases of plunder will perform at the polls. Even so, it cannot be dismissed that Estrada and Revilla do not stand a chance at getting elected given the nature of the electorate who are attracted by the glitter of showbiz lights.
Former Special Assistant to the President Bong Go barged into the winners' circle armed with the Malasakit Centers that he had established in many depressed areas throughout the country which enabled go to establish a connection with the low-income households which actually comprise almost 60% of the country’s voting population.
Notwithstanding the vast network that former top cop dela Rosa has organized, his campaign for a Senate seat appears to be lagging behind. What started out as a strong drive for the senate, dela Rosa’s campaign seems to have run into a brick wall. The center believes this could be the result of a lack of a clear and viable message that would entice the public into voting for him.
Lawyer and former presidential political adviser Francis Tolentino, on the other hand, has been attracting a lot of attention among the voters in almost all the social classes with his sharp responses to issues affecting the country’s political and social issues deemed timely in this year’s election campaign.
Tolentino’s campaign may also have been fueled by the social media as digital monitors traced his social media accounts with more than one-million followers and the exposure tolentino generated from the social media more or less explains why he is safely inside the magic 12.
The Center’s Executive Director also noted the opposition Otso Derecho may have issues on their side as they are saddled by lack of campaign funds to bring their issues to the farthest corner of the archipelago.
With only barely two months before the elections, Malay said they have to do more than that.