Villar, Enrile Up in New Poll

Misis Hanepbuhay Cynthia Villar receives a warm welcome from students and coaches during the MIMAROPA Regional Athletic Association Meet held in Romblon, Romblon recently. Villar commended the students' determination in representing their provinces in different sports competition.

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

 DAGUPAN CITY – Senatorial bets Cynthia Villar and Jack Enrile regained lost grounds in the past survey when it eclipsed other senatorial hopefuls in a poll by Stratpolls that was released recently by broadsheet Business Mirror. According to the pollster the survey last February 4 to 12 this year made the duo tied on numbers 7 -8 from the previous notches of 8-9 where they both tied in the January 17 to 19, 2013 survey of the Social Weather Station.
StratPolls enumerated the following senatorial candidates on its latest poll: No. 1 was Sen. Loren Legarda with 83 percent, No. 2 Sen. Chiz Escudero 79 percent, No. 3 Sen. Koko Pimentel 77 percent, No. 4 Rep. Sonny Angara 73 percent, No. 5 Rep. JV Ejercito 70 percent, No. 6 Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano 67 percent, No. 7-8 are Rep. Enrile and former Rep. Villar with 59 percent apiece, No. 9 Sen. Gregorio Honasan 57 percent, No. 10 Rep. Nancy Binay with 55 percent, No. 11 former Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri 53 percent and No. 12 Sen. Antonio Trillanes 52 percent.
 With a margin of error of positive and negative 3.5 percent and a confidence level of 98% from the 300 randomly selected respondents ages 18 years old and above drawn from the mostly middle class families in the National Capital Region who were asked in February 4 to 12, 2013 the following question:
" Kung bukas na po ang eleksyon sa pagka-Senador ng Pilipinas, sinu-sino po ang inyong iboboto? Magbanggit nga po kayo ng labin-dalawang mga kandidato sa pagka-Senador na inyong natatandaan. [Upon respondent’s request, a list of 33candidates from the major political parties are read out.]."
 Villar and Enrile were one of the most aggressive candidates in terms of using the television, radio, newspaper, and social media like Face Book to deliver their respective advocacies before the start of the February 12 to May 11, 2013 campaign period for senatorial candidates where they were not yet limited by the Commission on Election to convey their political advertisement.
 In the vote rich Pangasinan province alone, the duo have been barnstorming the province with utmost regularity with Villar commuting in a helicopter to hop from one of the 48 cities and towns strong Pangasinan to another. In his January 2013 husting in Pangasinan and before the January 19- 2013 SWS poll where he declined significantly, an unfazed Enrile commented on his fall from No. 4 to No. 7 in the SWS/ in December last year. ““You can never pin point any measure or any reason as an uptake or downfall. Ganyan talaga boss ang politika. Minsan may awareness ang tao sa iyo, minsan walang awareness ang tao sa iyo”. “Dahil mas aggressive iyong iba sa kanilang TV advocacy, mas magaganda ang kanilang media plan. Nakikilala sila ngayon so mas nagiging top of line iyong kanilang mga pangalan,” he stressed.
 He said he was not bothered about the declines of his rating. “I never expected to be this high anyway. Nag-uumpisa po tayo sa No. 8 noong December 2011 umakyat tayo after ng impeachment during (Chief Justice) Renato Corona sa No. 4. Obviously, may name recall pa noong panahon na iyon dahil tatay ko iyong presiding officer. Siguro akyat-baba iyan”. He explained that his Numbers 4 to popularity declined in December was a Goldilocks’ area. “Kasi sa nakikita po natin pag masyadong ka namang mataas binabatikos ka naman. Kung masyado ka namang mababa mukhang kinakabahan ka. kumportable tayo kung saan tayo boss, happy naman tayo”.
 In her recent interview with ABS-CBN reporter Karen Avilla, Villar said her stocks in the survey has been very close to her rivals. “We were close to each other from 4 to 9 (notches), one percent, half percent. The race is too tight within the 12 candidates,” she stressed.
She explained that the key in winning in the senatorial derby is how to deliver the right message to the people like jobs, livelihood and President Benigno Aquino III’s straight path. In her last visit at a fiesta in Binmaley, Pangasinan, Villar said her 20 year old Villar Foundation has been training and providing livelihood for the indigents in the towns of Santa Barbara, Malasiqui, Calasiao, and San Fabian to make water lily stalks into basket and furniture. She gives sacks of organic fertilizer too to farmers in Pangasinan. “
 Santa Barbara, Malasiqui, and Calasiao have common river with water lilies. We will train them to make water lilies into basket, furniture, to remove the water lily in the river because it could be the source of the flooding there,” Villar, who was the crowning guest in a coronation night of the fiesta queen in capital town Lingayen told me.