Roxas confident of winning May 9

Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel A. Roxas II yesterday expressed confidence that it will be his turn to top the presidential race this month.

Roxas cited circumstances that made the people junk his rivals in the past months.

In February, Roxas said Vice President Jejomar C. Binay had been the frontrunner in various surveys and in fact, appeared to be unbeatable if the trust, approval, and performance ratings are to be based over the past five years.

“But then the public discovered the truth about him. They discovered that he has dirty hands. He could not explain where he got his billions,” said Roxas.

This resulted to the gradual decline in surveys and based on the Pulse Asia survey released Friday, Binay is now on the fourth place with merely 18 percent from more than 40 percent before.

With Sen. Grace Poe being seen as the best alternative, Roxas said she grabbed the top spot from Binay in March this year.

However, Roxas said the presidential debates exposed the inexperience which made the public question her readiness to lead the country.

“As such, our countrymen sought for another candidate and her ratings slumped,” said Roxas.

This, he said, made the people turn their eyes to tough-talking Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte who started to top the surveys and peaked at 35 percent.

“Duterte took the lead, okay. But the people saw that he has a dirty mouth and later, they also found out that he has dirty hands as well,” said Roxas.

Based on the Pulse Asia survey conducted from April 19 to 24 and released on April 30, Duterte suffered a two-point decrease in his rating from 35 to 33 percent.

Poe and Binay also suffered a rating slump but Roxas said he was the only one who gained ground from 18 percent to 20 percent. (Aaron B. Recuenco)