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Saturday, November 08, 2008
De Castro tops presidential survey
MANILA -- Vice President Noli de Castro remains the Filipino's top choice to succeed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when her term ends in June 2010, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey said.
The SWS September 24-27, 2008 survey, which asked 1,500 respondents to give up to three names who they think should succeed Arroyo in Malacañang, revealed a total of 29 percent favoring de Castro over Senate President Manuel Villar, who had 28 percent. Senator Loren Legarda, meanwhile, had 26 percent.
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They were followed by Senator Panfilo Lacson (17 percent), Senator Francis Escudero (16 percent), and former President Joseph Estrada and Senator Manuel Roxas II (both with 13 percent). Nine percent could not give an answer while another nine percent had no one to recommend.
The survey also found one percent mentioning President Arroyo, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, Senator Francis Pangilinan, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Senator Richard Gordon, Senator Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal, Senator Juliana Pilar "Pia" Cayetano, and Pangasinan Representative Jose de Venecia Jr.
No list of names was provided to the respondents, who were randomly picked in Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Compared to the previous quarter survey, those who mentioned de Castro went down by two points, those who picked Villar rose by three points, and those for Legarda remained in the same level.
Others who had an increase in mentions were Escudero by two points, former President Estrada by two points, and Lacson by one point. There was no increase in the number of those who mentioned Roxas.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, meanwhile, said President Arroyo is not very keen on survey results. Dureza said Arroyo would rather focus on governing the country than on surveys.
"We always have our eyes on surveys but they are not too significant to us at this point in time," Dureza said.
According to him, Arroyo wants to "prepare the nation so that when she turns it over to her successor, it is a ship of state that can be seaworthy beyond 2010."
He said it was "interesting" that there were those who mentioned Arroyo possibly continuing beyond her constitutionally mandated term.
De Castro, in an emailed statement, thanked those who continue to trust him.
"I appreciate their support and view it as an appreciation of my sincerity to seek solutions to their problems. I assure them that I will even double my efforts in serving them," he said.
The Vice President also said that he will put the welfare of the people above all interests and uphold the highest standards of public service.
"During these times of difficulty, nothing is more important to me than to continue serving our people faithfully and maintaining the trust the underprivileged masses have given me since I entered public service," he said. (JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (November 8, 2008 issue)
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