The question is an obvious one and it is largely because no one really expects Secretary of Interior and Local Government Manuel “Mar” A. Roxas II to win the 2016 Presidential elections.
For the last couple of months, he was so far down in the surveys that some old guys in Ateneo were wondering over some inexpensive whisky at BGC if he was still in the race or wondering if he was in the right race at all. He has no connection with the masa, they said. People remember him most for the Yolanda fiasco, they said. His replacement at the DoTC, that descendant of Emilio Aguinaldo, is the incarnation of the Aquino Administration’s do-nothingness.
The rest of the conversation about Mar happened in between copious amounts of yada-yada-yada… Intermittent orders to pass the bottle of single malt… The repeated requests to order another steak to make pika-pika (and it was a small overdone steak which I mistook for tapa)… And supplications to “talk more business and someone please take notes about what we’re talking about because we’ve had a shot too many of the good stuff.”
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At two in the morning, the conclusion was Mar won’t win and the other supporting arguments given was all but a mumble.
And yet, yesterday, news about Pulse Asia’s most recent survey results would seem to confirm the drunken conclusion so many nights ago. (Let me add here that I am not a great believer of political surveys because we all know that there are surveys meant to be publicized and surveys that really tell the candidate where he stands in the race.)
Senator Grace Poe has topped a survey of potential presidential candidates in 2016, overtaking her close rival, Vice President Jejomar Binay, a Pulse Asia poll, which was released Thursday, showed. In the survey conducted from May 30 to June 5, Poe was chosen by 30 percent of the 1, 200 respondents nationwide while Binay only had 22 percent.
And as expected, Mar came at the bottom of the heap.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte came in third with 15 percent. Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas III, the presumptive standard-bearer of the ruling Liberal Party, was tied for fourth with former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada as they registered 10 percent each.
On the surface of things, people would think that Poe is now the person to beat, Binay’s presidential preference ratings would slide down further, and the rest of the people named in the survey would end up as also-rans.
Then again, here’s the thing… If the Philippine Presidential elections is a race, it’s a long race.
It’s really kind of a marathon and in such a long race, the battle really happens in the last few kilometers before the finish line. That’s when only the strongest and fastest runners emerge in the lead. Then, among the lead runners, you have to figure out which ones are really exhausted and which ones are still holding back some extra push.
Applying this analogy to the 2016 Presidential race, it seems the early race leader (Binay) has lost steam and quite a lot of it. All the negative publicity associated with all the highly publicized corruption allegations might have something to do with it, but I’d bet more money on the freeze order unleashed by AMLA on Binay’s bank accounts. Whether or not the AMLA freeze order actually managed to seize loot, you can bet that it is highly probable that Binay’s campaign finances have been thrown in disarray to some degree and politicians, as a rule of sorts, avoid spending their own money for their campaigns.
When it comes to Senator Grace Poe, it seems like she’s a solid contender for the Presidency, except for the citizenship issue and a possible court case questioning the legitimacy of her election win in 2013. All in all, that can either mean Poe is going to be a non-starter or if she manages to surge from the starting line, any victory at the polls would be encumbered by an electoral protest case.
I’m going to skip Duterte and Erap for now, and move on to Roxas already.
As I’ve previously mentioned, almost everyone I have talked to has dismissed Roxas as a possible winner in the 2016 elections and at this point, it still doesn’t seem like he is if you just look at the survey standings. Then again, the word coming from his communications team is that his 10 percent rating actually represents a steep acceleration.
Here’s part of a text message I got from a friend:
…regarding Pulse Asia survey, from 4% tumaas si Sec Mar ng 10%. Sec Mar got the highest growth rate at 150% higher than Grace.
Trajectory is clear. Lahat ng areas tumaas siya, NCR Visayas Mindanao.
Comparing March vs June vs QoQ growth rate;
Binay: 29% to 22% = -24%
Mar : 4% to 10% = +150%
Poe: 14% to 30% = + 114%
Duterte : 12% to 15% = 25%
Amazing, yes. Congratulations! Good job!
Then again, just to get real here, Grace is at 30% and Mar winning over Grace can only happen if:
1. Mar’s presidential preference survey rating continues to grow by 150% for the next two quarters.
2. Grace’s presidential preference survey rating loses steam substantially in the next two quarters.
Of course, that is not barring the possibility of Grace not filing her certificate of candidacy.
Well, anyway, how things will actually turn out is still anybody’s guess at this point and I am not great at guessing.
Writer.
Never underestimate or rule out a Wharton boy.
Tony Lopez, who is of course more known for his decades with Hong Kong based Asiaweek and who is a founding member of FOCAP, keeps on dropping hints that it is Bongbong Marcos who is the dark horse. In his latest article with Mnl Std ( http://goo.gl/13OzCK ), he can’t understand why the name of Bonget does not even appear in the latest survey of Pulse Asia for presidentiables. This convinces him that the survey company is again “massaging” the results, but in doing so hints that it is Bongbong who is the one to be “feared” by all the other aspirants to the position.
One could be inclined to believe that as it appears, from what I gather from other grapevine sources, that with straw votes held in various schools in the last 8 months, it has been Marcos who has consistently been leading these informal surveys.
Binay might get arrested soon. Poe could be disqualified.
That leaves the field open for Roxas, Marcos, Duterte, and possibly Santiago.
The two survey firms are headed by anti-Marcos people. I suspect the message is “No, you can’t use the BBL to win the Presidency!”
‘Feared ‘ is right. If Filipino’s elect another Marcos to lead the country they deserve what they get….and this time no one will be dumb enough to come help them get rid of him.
it is never enough for Filipino’s, look at E-RAP. A Man who had potential firing squads pointed at him, gets thrown out of office, and is now Mayor of Manila.
anyone that thinks that the Philippines is not as screwed up as anything ever gets needs some huge dose’s of reality.
History is made at night. Character is what you are in the dark.
What I see about Mar is someone who can continue what PNoy has started and don’t get me wrong cause honestly we saw how PNoy fought against corruption and that’s what we need in this country.
You know that is true, I see Mar as someone who’s honest enough to fight corruption.
Para sakin dun ako sa may paninindigang lumaban sa kahirapan at kurapsyon ng bansa, yung inendorso ni PNoy na sigurado namang tatahakin ang tuwid na daan.
Tama ka dun tayo sa kayang gawin ang mga nasimulan na ng daang matuwid!
My candidate: Kardong Kalabaw…accoding to my Crystal Ball Survey, is leading all of the potential candidates: from 0% to 40%…
Mar Roxas is like Aquino. He played politics, amidst the “Typhoon Yolanda” tragedy.
He called the massacre of the Policemen in Mamapasano: “misencounter”…he is an ardent supporter of the BBL Law, that will finance the MILF/ISIS/AL Queda terrorists.
He cannot solve the transportation problem in the country. He cannot solve, and did not solve the Squatter problem, in our country.
Mar Roxas is a Dud/Useless/Inutile, like his Boss Aquino. Being a graduate of Wharton College is nothing. What you did, and what you are doing to/for the country is what counts…
My candidate, Kardong Kalabaw, is better than Mar Roxas…ask Thaddeus Grimwald…
Kardong Kalabaw! FTW!
Masipag
Maasahan
I’m just worried though, how old is Kardong, you know he might be disqualified due to age rules. Especially when surveys begin to see him as a threat tiyak hahalungkatin ang edad niya.
Kardong Kalabaw is forty five (45) years young. He is a Natural Born Carabao, in the Philippines. Never attended school in any foreign school/university…
Although he does know Eddie the Bald Eagle who is a Harvard graduate and Philip the Fox who’s from Cambridge University in the UK, as will soon be revealed in his up and coming interview…
😀
KARDONG KALABAW FOR EMPEROR OF THE PHILIPPINES FOREVER!
Karedong Kalabaw is the “Dark Carabao” in the race…Roxas may be the “Dark Horse”…but, he will never have a chance with the ” Dark Carabao”…
VIVA LA KAREDONG !
KAREDONG ampf! XD
KARDO LANG!
Kamag-anak ko nga pala si Amorsolo Ahas, ang ipapasok niyang director ng Deped pag nanalo siya…
KARDONG KALABAW FTW!
gawa ka naman ng article about this clip of mayor duterte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOJdHfy7pHE
I don’t see him as a dark horse excuse me. I see him as an ass….an asshole that is.
relevant pa ba ang daang matuwid? …”the road to hell is paved with good intentions” IMO “daang matuwid” led us to hell…we got screwed and left hanging out to dry with China to the north and the MILF to the south and the vise is being slowly turned…
There is not a single candidate for the office that is worthy of the position. No, replacing one thief with another thief is sheer idiocy. If I were a Filipino, Man, IDK what I’d do.I swear, I’d probably do anything I possibly could to GTFOT.
Vote for a pig, an actual swine.With people like that guy ‘Porky’ Drilon running the country it is exactly the same thing. With one critical exception: you do not have to listen to them lying whenever they open their mouth.
Mar Roxas is the dark horse?
Well I smell a Liberal Party “spec-ops” here.
me i won’t listen to propagandas. i’ll just go for mary grace poe no substitute. she’s a natural born pilipino. if binay got arrested, drilon will seat. if it’s true all about binay, he should start helping the farmers to get their land back.