Lacson to supporters: Don’t be disheartened

Partido Reporma standard bearer Sen. Panfilo Lacson told his supporters not to be disheartened by the results of the latest surveys that placed him behind rivals, saying they must not give up for the sake of the country.

The latest Pulse Asia survey put Lacson in fifth place with four percent.

“To our BRAVE supporters: if you don’t see in the surveys the support that you feel on the ground, don’t get disheartened. Our fight to enlighten a benighted land shall continue in ways that are determined, decent, serious and honest. We will never give up for our country’s sake,” Lacson posted on Twitter.

BRAVE also stands for Budget Reform for Village Empowerment, Lacson’s long-time advocacy that funds from the national budget should reach the poorest barangays.

Addressing thousands of supporters in Mawab, Davao de Oro over the weekend, he said the correct way for the government to intervene in the lives of Filipinos is to boost their capacity-building instead of passing regulations that only lead to stagnation.

He said the government needs to do more positive intervention and capacitate local governments, starting from the municipal level, for more Filipinos to feel meaningful change.

Government should also be a better partner with the private sector instead of treating companies as competitors, the longtime public servant said, as he, running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Partido Reporma’s senatorial candidates wrapped up two days of campaigning in the Davao region.

“Intervention is the problem of our national government, in regulation, it’s overregulated now. The intervention we need is positive,” Lacson said in Filipino.

For example, the three-term senator said most local government units (LGUs) have no capacity in terms of long-term community planning or welltrained planning officers for their towns or cities.

This is where the national government could intervene by sending LGU officers to the Local Government Academy or the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), where they could study how to craft and implement plans properly for long-term progress, he said.

Lacson already did this in a limited scope as the rehabilitation czar for the Aquino administration in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Through a $10-million study grant by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the government trained 161 community planners with the DAP, which in turn benefited 171 LGUs in their post-Yolanda rehabilitation and recovery measures.

“That’s what’s called capacity building. Let’s capacitate the municipalities that are rather lacking, meaning incapacitated – let’s help them,” he said.

Leni, Isko unfazed

Presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo also remained unfazed by the results of the latest Pulse Asia pre-election survey which showed her trailing rival former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

In a statement on Sunday, Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez claimed the Pulse Asia poll was conducted from Jan. 19 to 24, “too early to capture the impact of the gamechanging interviews” from various media institutions, including GMA 7 and radio station dzRH.

“VP Leni’s stellar performance in those interviews, added to the massive rallies that have come out for her during this first week of the official campaign, give us confidence that she has the clear momentum,” Gutierrez said.

“We have no doubt this will be reflected in the coming surveys, and of course, on Election Day,” he said.

Marcos and running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio topped Pulse Asia’s Pulso ng Bayan preelectoral national survey released on Sunday.

The poll showed Marcos getting 60 percent voter preference, followed by Robredo with 16 percent.

Robredo earlier urged her supporters not to be disheartened by the survey numbers, citing her experiences in past elections.

“When I ran in 2013 I was really lagging behind because I was running against a very well-entrenched political dynasty,” the Vice President said in an online forum, referring to her congressional run in Camarines Sur.

“When I ran in 2016 (for vice president), I started at one percent. I was number six of six candidates. As of January 2016, I was still number four, but we prevailed. Now we have much more to do, but I am very hopeful,” Robredo said.

Robredo defeated Marcos in the 2016 vice presidential elections.

Likewise, presidential aspirant Sen. Manny Pacquiao yesterday said he was unfazed by the Pulse Asia survey in which he was tied at third, adding that he and his team remain optimistic because of “a snowballing of support” in the Visayas and Mindanao.

“I am not worried by the surveys … I will not be disheartened, as well as my supporters. We have a solid ground of support,” Pacquiao said in a statement.

The Pulse Asia survey showed Pacquiao polling at third with Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.

Pacquiao, whose campaign is hinged on a promise of regional development and decentralization of government services, said he and his team expect to solidify its hold in the Visayas and Mindanao – where he kicked off his campaign last week.

Moreno yesterday also brushed off the Pulse Asia survey results, adding that there was a “silver lining” in his placing as the survey’s second pick for president.

In a statement, Aksyon Demokratiko chairman Ernest Ramel said the latest Pulso ng Bayan survey and other presidential preferences surveys “are snapshots of a point in time, and with 84 days to go in this campaign, voter preferences are likely to shift, a phenomenon which we have seen through several elections since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship.”

Moreno’s camp likewise added that the survey was conducted from Jan. 19-24, before the conduct of presidential interviews, except for the interview by GMA-7’s Jessica Soho that aired on Jan. 22.

“We can say that there was not enough traction as yet when Pulse Asia did its field work. What was clearly left out of the survey field work was the interview with Boy Abunda on Jan. 27 and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas Forum on Feb 4,” Ramel said.

In a separate phone interview with The STAR, Ramel said Moreno’s consistent survey rating as a favorite second pick showed that the mayor is in the mind of the public, especially among the “soft voters” of survey frontrunner Marcos and second placer Robredo.

“The voting in an election is not for second place, but for us, there is still a silver lining, because it means people are looking at Mayor Isko,” Ramel said.

The Moreno camp also cited the latest noncommissioned online survey by Tangere-Manila Bulletin conducted Feb. 4-5, that Moreno gained from his performance in the presidential interviews, with his ratings improving to 22.17 percent from 16.75 percent during the previous survey conducted from Jan. 18-19.

The ratings of Marcos, who snubbed the interviews, slid from 57.67 percent to 54 percent; Robredo’s ratings remained at 15 percent.

Endorsement

Meanwhile, in a one-page statement, Council of Coordinators of Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon Community senior head coordinator Manuel de los Santos said that “after much prayer and discussion, in view of what we sense as exigent circumstances and recognizing that we are taking the unprecedented step, we, the members of the Council of Coordinators, choose to strongly support the candidacy of Vice President Leni Robredo for President.”

The Council is a familybased transparochial covenant community in Metro Manila.

“It is our collective discernment that she is the best candidate for president. It is our collective sense that her positions on issues, many of which we hold in Ligaya, reflect her Christian values,” he added.

Delos Santos pointed out that Robredo has consistently taken a strong position against the death penalty, favors transparency in government, integrity in public service and accountability for crime and official misconduct. She has also maintained her opposition against extrajudicial killings in the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

As vice president, the Council said Robredo has been a visionary and shown servant leadership, and has a professional and untiring work ethic.

De los Santos admitted that not all of their members may be supportive of Robredo’s candidacy and that he is open to dialogue with other members who may prefer other presidential bets.

He also asked their members to pray, fast and intercede for the coming May 9 elections.

– With Evelyn Macairan, Neil Jayson Servallos, Helen Flores, Marc Jayson Cayabyab