Administration standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro, who is rating poorly in surveys of presidential candidates, has dismissed opinion polls as mere guides that don’t reflect the choice of the people.
“We are making excellent progress,” Teodoro said when asked whether he was disturbed by the strong lead of rivals Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manny Villar, and former President Joseph Estrada.
“Voting results and not poll surveys will determine the victors in next year’s presidential race,” said the former defense chief, stressing that the election is four months away and a lot of things could happen.
Barely a month after being named by the Lakas-Kampi-CMD as its standard-bearer, Teodoro’s rating has climbed to five percent in the latest Pulse Asia survey, up by three percentage points from the previous survey in October.
Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay, spokesperson for Teodoro, said she is confident of Teodoro’s chances in 2010.
“The election is more than four months away, and we continue to be encouraged by the growing excitement that Gibo Teodoro has begun to generate among young and thoughtful Filipinos in many areas of the country,” Magsaysay said.
“We are confident that his ratings will climb dramatically as more Filipinos get to know his program of government, his character and his integrity in public office as the epitome of the new generation of high-achieving Filipino leaders,” she said.
“More recent mock polls in colleges and universities and in the business community are pointing to this direction convincingly,” she pointed out.
The latest Pulse Asia survey, conducted from Dec. 8 to 10, showed Aquino leading by a sizeable margin against top opponents Villar and Estrada.
At Malacañang, presidential economic spokesman Gary Olivar said Teodoro’s poor rating was due to the former defense chief’s lack of exposure, particularly outside Metro Manila.
Olivar said that Teodoro had a chance to promote himself at the height of trophical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” when he was heading the National Disaster Coordinating Council but opted to work on a low profile.
“He resisted the temptation to do that because it appeared to him that it would have been exploiting the situation to his credit. So he passed up on that opportunity,” Olivar said.
He said the Makati Business Club’s high rating for Teodoro was an acknowledgment of his capability and intelligence as a leader. Aquino topped MBC’s opinion polls.
“If we assume that the business community is a community that recognizes and respects intelligence, achievement, platform, as qualities to look for in a presidentiable, then the endorsement, or rather, the higher level of support that has been given to Sec. Teodoro in this particular survey, I would think, reflects positively on these qualities that he has as a candidate for next year,” Olivar said.
Real score
Teodoro, meanwhile, called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to make clear its fall back position in the event of failure of poll automation.
“They (Comelec officials) must tell the public whether they can still automate next year’s national elections and what measures they will implement in case the automation bid fails,” Teodoro said.
“I am really concerned as this (automation failure) could be used by opponents in questioning my victory in case I win next year’s presidential elections,” Teodoro said.
High shipping costs and heavier traffic of goods during the holidays have delayed the delivery of 12,000 voting machines, according to the Comelec.
Only 30,000 of the targeted 42,200 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines will be delivered by the end of the month, according to Comelec Chairman Jose Melo.
“I’m not very comfortable at this time until I see the 30,000 machines to be delivered by December,” he said. “I want more.”
Contractor Smartmatic-TIM (Total Information Management) will have the poll machines delivered in early January, when shipping costs are expected to be 20 percent lower and the traffic of deliveries lighter. – With Marvin Sy
http://gibo.ph/updatefull.aspx?key=8Gq02pjD1mNSn1lXpwzDqUyihUXOYufXmfYXv/985KHlnBzLBxw7EA==
Source: The Philippine Star
Posted: 12/23/2009
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