SENATOR GRACE POE (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
ALTHOUGH they were leading in the latest Pulse Asia survey, presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe and her running mate, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero vowed to work harder and visit more areas in the country.
“Mas lalong tumitindi ang aming layunin at mas nagkaroon kami ng inspirasyon na umikot sa ating bansa (It strengthened our resolve and would inspire us to go around the country),” she said in a news conference while campaigning in Samboan town on Saturday.
“Hindi lamang para makita ng ating mga kababayan kundi mapakinggan din sila kung anong nais nilang idagdag sa aming plataporma at ialay din sa kanila ang mga platapormang iyan (Our goal is not only to see our countrymen but also to listen to what they can add our platform of government and offer our platform to them),” she added.
Poe said she was grateful for the latest Pulse Asia survey results where she got 26 percent of voter preference, just one percent higher than the 25 percent received by Vice President Jejomar Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance.
She said the results proved that the people still believed in her even if the Supreme Court had yet to decide on the disqualification cases filed against her.
Poe of Team Galing at Puso said it was also important that they had the support of different groups and influential families in the province.
“We need all the support that we can get from well meaning families… We respect their prerogative to be able to declare where their commitment lies,” Poe said.
Her statement was in contrast to what Liberal Party standard bearer Mar Roxas said in Cebu that he did not need the backing of influential families in the province because he only needed the votes of ordinary Cebuanos who believed in their “Daang Matuwid (straight path) program.
Escudero, who tied in the top spot in the vice presidential survey with Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., said that the survey results would push them to work harder and not be complacent.
He said they never took for granted any survey result whether they were in the lead or not.
“Surveys are really like that in nature. They go up and down, up and down. At the end of the day, you count the votes on election day not the votes held during a survey,” he added.
“It’s us who have to work harder. Mas maging masipag para umikot sa mas maraming lugar. Hopefully, at the end of the day, we will be judged by the platforms we presented to our people,” he added.
Both Poe and Escudero stayed at the rest house of Samboan Mayor Raymond Calderon, a Liberal Party (LP) member during their campaign sortie in Samboan, 140 km south of Cebu City, on Saturday morning.
Mayor Calderon, in a separate interview, said he was merely extending courtesy to both senators since they were visitors of his town but it did not mean that he was supporting them.
Calderon told reporters that Roxas and running mate, Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo would still win in Samboan during the May polls.
While in Samboan, Poe and Escudero made a side trip to Aguinid Falls.
Escudero bought a size 8, red Spartan slippers so he had something to wear while trekking the river. Poe wore her sky blue diving shoes.
With the help of guides, they were able to return to the second level of the five-level falls.
Poe said seeing the other sites of the province like the Aguinid Falls would help them see the potential eco-tourism sites that they could help promote.
“Tourism is one sector that we need to be able to harness so that we can have more jobs,” she said.
From Samboan, they boarded a private helicopter to Bantayan town on Bantayan Island, at the northern tip of Cebu.
From Bantayan, they would head back to Manila.
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