Leaders of the administration Liberal Party will hold an emergency meeting with President Benigno Aquino III at the Club Filipino today, Thursday, to discuss ways to improve the rankings in voter preference surveys and the overall chances of LP candidates former Secretary Mar Roxas and Rep. Leni Robredo.
Various sources told The Standard that the gathering is also intended as a show of force of local leaders of the ruling party, officials of different political parties allied with the administration coalition and other LP supporters.
The LP leaders also intend to dispel long-running reports that key party figures are planning to join rival camps less than a month before the May 9 elections following the surge of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the most recent surveys.
Roxas’ spokesman Rep. Barry Gutierrez, however, downplayed the event as a mere “showing of support for Roxas and Robredo, since the elections are near.”
A last-minute advisory sent to LP members described the event as a “very important meeting” which all members are “required” to attend.
“There are fears inside LP that the [party] machinery won’t work, there are some who will jump ship,” one source told The Standard.
Roxas continues to trail Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay in nearly all presidential surveys.
In the vice presidential race, Robredo has improved but is still behind Marcos.
The same sources said the ruling party is also concerned with the dwindling attendance of its senatorial candidates during campaign sorties led by Roxas.
The last time the LP’s complete 12-person Senate slate showed up was at the very first proclamation rally held in Iloilo at the start of the campaign period for national candidates.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, campaign workers for several LP Senate candidates cited the lack of opportunity given to them to speak on stage during rallies and a supposed lack of campaign funding support from the ruling party, which prevents them from joining provincial sorties.
They said the ruling party’s campaign managers, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Marikina City Rep. Miro Quimbo are often absent in events that administration candidates are required to attend.