The recent Pulse Asia survey that placed him at third among five leading presidential aspirants has failed to diminish Senator Manny Pacquiao’s resolve in helping the poor by pursuing his bid to become president.
In a statement, the PROMDI and PDP-Laban (Pimentel wing) standard-bearer maintained that his presidential bid has a “solid ground support.”
Pacquiao was tied at third to fourth place with Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagaso in the recently-released results of the Pulso ng Bayan survey for presidential candidates that was conducted last month by Pulse Asia.
Leading the pack was Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) candidate Bongbong Marcos. Placing second was opposition standard-bearer Vice President Leni Robredo.
Partido Reporma bet Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson placed fifth.
“Hindi po tayo nababahala sa mga lumalabas na survey. Lumalaban po ako upang ipaglaban ang kinabukasan ng ating bayan, lalung-lalo na ang ating mga mahihirap (The survey doesn’t worry me. I am fighting for the future of our country, especially the poor),” said Pacquiao.
He explained: “Hindi po ako panghihinaan ng loob at ganun din ang aking mga supporters na patuloy na kumakatok sa bawat pinto, sa bawat komunidad, sa bawat bayan at sa bawat lalawigan upang ibahagi ang ating plano para maiangat sa kahirapan ang ating bansa. (I am not discouraged and that also goes to my supporters who continue to knock on the doors of every community, every locality, and every province to present my plans to free our country from poverty).”
Pacquiao disclosed that he is not dependent on politicians from the local level to campaign for him. Instead, he is counting on the sacrifices of volunteers who have joined his campaign.
“We have a solid ground support,” the senator said.
“We remain very optimistic because we are seeing a snowballing of support in the Visayas and in Mindanao. We expect to solidify all Visayans being the only Visayan candidate among the presidentiables," declared Pacquiao, who once represented Saranggani province in Mindanao in the House of Representatives.
The Pulse Asia survey showed Pacquiao getting strong support from respondents in Visayas and Mindanao provinces.
The January Pulse Asia survey had 2,400 respondents who were all 18 years old and above. The survey has a +/- 2 percent margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level.