- A Liberal Party stalwart said that Mayor Duterte is no longer a ‘sideshow joke’ which was the previous impression of him
- The LP official admitted Duterte is now a serious threat after topping recent surveys
- However, they believe Duterte’s ratings will eventually fall days before election
MANILA, Philippines – The realization may have come a bit late for the Liberal Party (LP), but the camp of administration bet Mar Roxas acknowledged that Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is now a serious threat and no longer a ‘sideshow joke’ as they would like to put; this was admitted by LP spokesperson Rep. Barry Gutierrez.
Gutierrez said their previous impression of Duterte was one who is not serious about his presidential bid, until the tough-talking mayor started pulling in impressive numbers in recent surveys.
“Now, more people are realizing that Mayor Duterte is a serious candidate and not just a sideshow joke, which was the previous impression of him,” Inquirer’s DJ Yap quoted the Anakbayan party-list representative as saying.
“They’re now taking seriously his pronouncements and his candidacy. And I think there’s a real possibility that there will be a consolidation of the anti-Duterte vote,” Gutierrez added.
Mayor Duterte has topped both the recent Social Weather Station (SWS) and Pulse Asia surveys which was released only two days of each other this week; finally overtaking erstwhile frontrunner Senator Grace Poe.
In the SWS poll result, Duterte came on top as the most preferred presidential candidate with 27%; beating closest rival Poe by 4 points.
He again emerged as the top choice in the Pulse Asia survey with 30% against Poe’s 25 %.
Nevertheless, Gutierrez said they remain optimistic that Duterte’s ratings will eventually plunge down in the coming days leading to the election day on May 9, supposedly owing to the mayor’s “inconsistency, his weak position on China, his total lack of any diplomatic ability and what he has said on killings.”
“So, I think there’s a slowly emerging constituency that is going to his high survey numbers. And you know that will eventually bring his numbers down,” the LP stalwart added.
Compared to other rivals, Gutierrez said LP standard-bearer Mar Roxas, who was consistently in fourth place in the race to Malacañang, was “not too concerned” with his ratings; believing that the ‘Daang Matuwid’ legacy, as well as the strong political machinery and local organization will eventually catapult him to the highest position in the land.
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