Presidential Candidate Noynoy Aquino Widens Lead Over Villar
29/03/2010 18:00
As the Philippine national election draws near, two major presidential contenders are fighting neck and neck in the popularity surveys conducted by private pollsters. A recent survey by SWS showed Noynoy Aquino leading over opponent Manny Villar
Philippine presidential candidate Benigno (Noynoy) Aquino widens his lead over closest candidate Manny Villar according to the recent survey conducted by Social Weather Station (SWS), a leading private polling agency in the country.
Noynoy Aquino is the son of the late Philippine Senator Benigno Aquino who was murdered upon arrival at the Manila International Airport on his return from exile in Boston Massachusetts, USA more than two decade ago. The elder Aquino was democratic icon and a freedom fighter who fought the then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the country under martial law for many years.
Aquino's closest opponent Sen.Manny Villar is a former Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives and former Senate President. Villar was earlier leading the election campaign for president but Noynoy was able to catch up according the the survey by SWS.
The survey, conducted from March 19 to 22, showed Aquino keeping his lead over eight rivals in the presidential race and arresting a slide in support, with 37 percent against Villar’s 28 percent, according to Philstar report.
Former President Joseph Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino came in third with 19 percent, narrowing Villar’s lead to just nine points from 19 points in February, according to the results of the SWS survey done jointly with BusinessWorld.
Philstar.com reports:
“The poor are beginning to see the true nature of Sen. Manny Villar and all these are taking a toll on his numbers. We continue to spread our message of good governance and change,” Aquino spokesman Edwin Lacierda said. “In addition, people have grown weary of his (Villar’s) ad overspending, the C-5 scandal, the various landgrabbing scandals that are beginning to surface, the ‘Villaroyo’ alliance and his transactional politics have all accounted for the drop in his numbers,” he added.
On the other hand, Villar is confident that he will eventually overcome the reported lead in the surveys after making some adjustments in their campaign strategy.
In Naga City, Villar said he is confident he can still catch up with Aquino, since the lead is only single-digit. “Siguro sa kampanya, may mga kailangan kaming i-adjust (Maybe we have to make adjustments in our campaigning),” he said.
(original article appeared @ Digital Journal )