Latest poll survey shows volatility of the election drive

WE may be in the middle of the Christmas season but election issues continue to hold our interest and attention. The latest election-related development was the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision en banc upholding the rulings of its two divisions declaring Sen. Grace Poe not qualified to run for president of the country for not being a “natural-born citizen” and not having the 10-year residency requirement.

The case now goes to the Supreme Court, along with the related decision of the Senate Electoral Tribunal declaring Senator Poe qualified to run for senator in 2010. In that SET decision by six senators and three Supreme Court justices, Poe was deemed to have met the required qualifications to run for senator, including being a natural-born citizen.

Another aspiring presidential candidate -Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City – is also facing disqualification by the Comelec, because the PDP-Laban presidential candidate he seeks to replace, Martin Dino, filed a faulty Certificate of Candidacy in which he had written “mayor of Pasay City” in the space for the position for which he was running.

A third presidential candidate – Mar Roxas of the Liberal Party – has been engaged in a battle of press statements with Mayor Duterte, in which the two exchanged macho challenges -- from slapping, then boxing bouts, then finally to a public debate. A fourth candidate - Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago – has remained above the frays, but with statements on such issues as the need to help our Overseas Filipino Workers.

While all these developments dominated news pages, a survey was held by Pulse Asia and the surprising result had the fifth candidate – Vice President Jejomar Binay – back on top of voters’ choices. His rating had gone down in the last few months in the wake of exposes against his record as Makati City mayor 20 years ago, coupled with the rise of popular candidates Poe and Duterte. Now it seems his steady campaign has begun to bear fruit, while the two erstwhile poll leaders – Duterte and Poe – found themselves under clouds of uncertainty.

The survey only shows how volatile the situation is and how people’s views can change. There are more than four months to go before the election on May 9, 2016. The Supreme Court and the Comelec will soon be making decisions affecting the fortunes of the various candidates. We can expect many more changes in the total political scene we go through the next four months of this lively election campaign.