Ejercito: Survey result is a wake-up call

THE result of the pre-election survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) is a wake-up call and should not discourage candidates, said San Juan City Representative Joseph Victor Ejercito.

The result of the survey, conducted nationwide from February 15 to 17, showed that nine senatorial candidates of the administration's Team PNoy and three bets from United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) were favored by most Filipinos.

The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents.

But Ejercito, a senatorial candidate of UNA, said the result showed that "we (UNA candidates) to double time in our efforts to reach as many provinces as possible in our campaign."

He acknowledged that "it is very hard to campaign against the administration party since they have the complete machineries which are difficult to match."

He said without elaborating that they will adopt a new campaign strategy to improve their standing in the senatorial race.

Nevertheless, Ejercito said he is happy to be on the ninth spot of the SWS survey.

He, meanwhile, admitted that he is banking his candidacy on his family name, being the son of former President Joseph Estrada, aside from his credentials.

Ejercito was cited as one of the 15 Most Outstanding Congressmen by the Congress Magazine in 2010. He was also one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Awardee in 2007 for his performance as local chief executive of San Juan City.

He was in Zamboanga City last Thursday for a speaking engagement at the Western Mindanao State University. He also met with the local UNA candidates and other officials. (Bong Garcia)