P’Noy’s denial
President Aquino, in a press briefing in Los Angeles, denied that independent presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe is his silent candidate, which the latter also disclaimed.
Speculation has been ripe that if administration standard-bearer Mar Roxas’ ratings, which are down to 18 percent, does not improve, the President will shift to Poe at the last stage of the campaign.
The speculation heightened when Poe attended the birthday dinner of President Aquino last week at Malacañang Park.
But Poe’s rating also dropped to 24 percent only in the just released Social Weather Stations (SWS) Feb. 5-7 Survey.
President Aquino said what was needed by Roxas is for voters to be reminded of Roxas’ track record in resolving problems in Zamboanga during the siege by rebels and his addressing the problems of Eastern Samar and Tacloban caused by Typhoon Yolanda.
P’Noy believes that the campaign message of “Daang Matuwid” will carry the Roxas-Leni Robredo tandem to victory.
All previous surveys, so far, show Roxas as lacking support from class ‘D’ and ‘E’ voters, the so called ‘masa vote.’
According to sources, former Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, an Aquino ally, has been contacting fellow Masons in the bailiwicks of the LP, trying to gather support for Poe.
According to one source, Puno’s personal aide, Myro Lopez, who had been calling up members of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines in Western Visayas and Northern Mindanao, has been asking for help in organizing Poe’s rallies. An influential Mason said he recently received a call from Lopez relaying Puno’s concerns.
10-point jump
Cebu Rep. Ace Durano, campaign manager of Senator Grace Poe, predicted she will gain 10 percent more once the Supreme Court decides the citizenship and residency issues and allows her to run for president.
On Tuesday, the SC wrapped up the oral arguments on the petitions of Poe, appealing the two decisions of the Commission on Elections of cancelling her Certificate of Candidacy (COC).
The parties were given five days to submit their final memoranda.
In a press conference in Roxas City, Poe expressed confidence she will get a positive ruling from the SC because of the “positive arguments of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Solicitor General Florin Hilbay” supporting her case.
Political update
The One Cebu Party, headed by the Pablo Garcia clan, formally sealed an alliance with United Nationalist Alliance and endorsed Vice-President Jejomar Binay for president last Tuesday in Cebu City.
Binay and his vice presidential candidate Gringo Honasan flew to Cebu for the One Cebu-UNA coalition formalization.
Liberal Party tandem Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo campaigned in Negros Occidental.
Independent tandem Grace Poe and Francis Escudero visited Iloilo, covering Carles, Barotac Nuevo and Jaro where Susan Roces joined their rally. They proceeded to Roxas and Kalibo.
PDP-Laban’s Rodrigo Duterte stayed close to Davao City, then flew to Bacolod.
People’s Reform Party’s Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Independent Ferdinand Marcos Jr. held a rally in Pasig City. Marcos visited Bagong Silang in Caloocan.
The Comelec started printing 57 million ballots. Poe and Señeres were included in the list of presidential candidates.
Meanwhile, Atty. JV Bautista, UNA secretary-general, predicted that the five-man presidential race will boil down to a Binay-Roxas face-off in the end.
Vice President Binay said that poverty is the most serious moral issue affecting the nation today, speaking at the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc.
Another journalist killed
Volunteer radio reporter Elvis Ordaniza, 49, of dxWO radio station in Pitogo, was shot dead in his home in Pitogo, Zamboanga del Sur.
He is the first journalist killed in 2016, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUVP). The NUVP condemned the government’s failure to prevent such killings and solve past cases.
Meanwhile, six policemen were killed and 10 were wounded in a New People’s Army ambush in Baggao, Cagayan.
Three were killed and three wounded in a bomb blast in Datu Saudi-Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
PO3 Joe Harry Peralta and PO1 Henry Vell Pacheco were killed in an ambush in Brgy. Caningay, Candoni town in Negros Occidental.
Floro Allado, a candidate for mayor of Banisilan, North Cotabato, was shot dead in a gas station in Wao, Lanao del Sur.
Malnutrition up
The Food and Nutrition Research Institute reported that malnutrition has increased to 21.5 percent in 2015, from 20 percent in 2013.
The biggest number of malnourished children were reported in Southern Tagalog, Eastern Visayas, and the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao.
EO on salary increase
After arriving from his United States visit yesterday, President Aquino signed an executive order implementing the Salary Standardization Law Act 4 (SSL4) that raises the salary of about 1.6 million government employees by an average of 27 percent.
The signed executive order implements the first of four-year government-wide salary increase program that will cost taxpayers an estimated P850 billion.
Tidbits
The number of dengue cases in Iloilo rose 98 percent. Nike terminated Manny Pacquiao’s endorsement contract, due to his anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender remarks.
Only five private-public partnership projects have been completed.
Duterte announced that if elected president he will transfer the offices of the Department of Agriculture and Department of Environment and Natural Resources to Mindanao.
Vice President Binay has promised to allocate P65 billion every year to provide free uniforms, books and school supplies to some 20 million public school students nationwide.