No surprise, Teodoro tops mock polls of House members

Despite garnering a 60-percent rating in the latest nationwide survey on preferred presidential aspirants, Senator Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III got only seven votes in mock polls participated in by more than half of the members of the House of Representatives. The mock polls, organized by some members of the House media and tallied Wednesday under the supervision of Commission on Elections (Comelec) personnel, instead showed the administration's most likely candidate - Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. - with 90 votes or 58.8 percent of the voter turnout. The 153 lawmakers who participated in the polls comprised 57 percent of the House's 268 members. The House is dominated by political allies of the Arroyo administration. Senator Manuel Villar Jr. of the Nacionalista Party (NP) was a distant second with 25 votes, while Senator Francis Escudero, the probable Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) standard bearer, came in third with 20 votes. The seven votes Aquino garnered placed him only at the fourth spot. The mock polls result came on the heels of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing 60 percent of 1,800 respondents preferring Aquino as the "best leader" to succeed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In the same survey, Teodoro placed only eighth, garnering about 4 percent. No surprise Political analyst Ramon Casiple of the Consortium on Electoral Reforms said the mock poll results - which likewise showed prospective administration vice presidential bet Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno leading among vice presidential aspirants - were not surprising as it reflected the strength of ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD party in the House. "Sila naman talaga ang chosen candidates ng ruling administration party dito sa House so hindi kataka-taka yun (They are the chosen candidates of the ruling administration party here in the House so the results are not puzzling)," Casiple said in a press conference that followed the tallying. Casiple also pointed out that the top four presidential aspirants in the mock polls were all former congressmen. Teodoro and Aquino were three-term representatives of the first and second districts of Tarlac, respectively. Villar was a former House Speaker, while Escudero was House Minority Leader before being elected to the Senate in 2007. But Casiple said he was surprised that Villar came in second, as the NP only has 12 members in the House. He said Villar's ranking might be an indication that many administration allies are shifting their support for Villar, who is considered to have vast political machinery. Casiple also said he was surprised former President Joseph Estrada only received two votes, but said this was probably because many legislators doubt the legitimacy of Estrada's second pursuit of the presidency. Placing fifth before Estrada was Senator Richard Gordon with four votes. Garnering one vote each were Vice President Noli De Castro, Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando, and evangelist Eddie Villanueva. Senators Loren Legarda and Ma. Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal and evangelist Mike Velarde did not receive votes from the participating congressmen. VP race In the vice presidential category, Puno led with 55 votes, followed by Legarda with 21 and Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II, Aquino's running mate, who got 18 votes. Puno is the only member of Lakas-Kampi-CMD who has publicly expressed his intention to seek the vice presidential post. Even though he has not announced any intention to run for vice president, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves came in fourth with 13 votes. He was followed by Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, Estrada's declared running mate, with 11 votes. De Castro and Fernando got eight votes each. Batangas Governor Vilma Santos, who is being courted by Lakas-Kampi-CMD to consider running for the country's second highest post, got five votes. Gordon got four votes while Madrigal received one. The mock polls were conducted on October 12 to 13 through secret balloting. Lawmakers from both the majority and minority blocs, including Speaker Prospero Nograles and former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., participated. Also among those who voted were Teodoro's wife, Tarlac Rep. Monica Prieto-Teodoro; Villar's wife Las Pinas Rep. Cynthia Villar; and Escudero's father Sorsogon Rep. Salvador Escudero III. Some members of the House media organized the mock polls following Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco's announcement last month that his personal survey of congressmen showed that nearly half of all House members preferred Aquino over other presidential aspirants. Cuenco, who took part in the tallying on Wednesday, said the mock polls were probably "more accurate" than his personal survey. Northern Samar Rep. Emil Ong, a CPA board topnotcher and former accounting professor, was the chief tabulator during the counting of ballots. Ramsel Puncia of the Comelec's Education and Information Department read out the ballots in the presence of media members and teachers and students from the Batasan High School. - GMANews.TV