Express Path to Top?

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said that Mar Roxas’ zooming upward trajectory in the pre-election polls, bolstered by President Aquino’s “daang matuwid,” is far more encouraging than the ratings received by his possible rivals in the 2016 president elections.

“Roxas’ zooming trajectory is very evident in all surveys. This should be a cause of concern for his opponents because, by all indications, it is just a matter of time before Roxas gets ahead of them,” Drilon stressed.

Drilon’s statement came after the Social Weather Station’s (SWS) latest survey showing Roxas as among those leading in the presidential race in 2016.

In that survey conducted on September 2 to 5, 2015, Roxas received 20 percent, which according to Drilon, marks a five-fold increase from his rating six months ago in a survey conducted by another polling agency, Pulse Asia.

Drilon said that he agreed with political analyst Edmund S. Tayao’s statement that the three presidential aspirants are “statistically tied.”

“However, Roxas’ rating is far more encouraging when you look at where he started. Six months ago in a Pulse Asia survey, Roxas had only 4 percent, but now his rating went up to 20 percent. That’s a tremendous 16-percent jump,” he said.

The Senate chief said that the “‘tuwid na daan’ leadership by President Aquino succeeded in putting Roxas’ rating on an upward trajectory.”

“There is no question on the fact that the people continue to identify the ‘tuwid na daan’ government with President Aquino. There is also no doubt that the people want continuity to these reforms already achieved, which can be best done under the leader who Aquino himself trusts to further drive the nation forward," said Drilon, referring to Roxas, who Aquino previously anointed as his successor.

Drilon said that it is now incumbent upon the other declared candidates to present to the people an alternative platform which they can say “distinct and better” than the “tuwid na daan”.

While Roxas continues to rise in surveys, Drilon noted that his closest rivals’ ratings have either plateaued off or declined.    

“In comparison, the ratings of other declared candidates have either gone down or seen no major improvement despite their pronouncements to the public and heavy advertisements,” Drilon said.

In the March survey by the Pulse Asia, the then leading presidential candidate, Vice President Jejomar Binay, got 29 percent, while Senator Poe garnered 14 percent. But in the latest SWS poll, Binay’s number went down to 24 percent, while Poe’s increased to 26%.

In an earlier survey results released by the SWS where respondents were asked to name three candidates they would likely support, Drilon emphasized that it is Roxas who recorded the biggest and most significant increase by 18 percentage points, from 21% in June 2015 to 39% in September 2015.