Admin tag hurting Gibo in surveys, ally admits

A Malacañang ally on Sunday admitted that being tagged with the administration is taking its toll on presidential aspirant Gilberto “Gibo" Teodoro Jr., who continues to languish in various preference surveys. “Sa tingin ko … ang aking honest assessment . . . ay naiipit siya sa mga napakaraming anti-administration sentiments (My honest assessment is that Teodoro is a victim of anti-administration sentiments)," said Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri in an interview on dzBB radio. Zubiri likened Teodoro’s situation to that of losing US presidential bet John McCain, who he said suffered in the last US elections because of his association with George Bush Jr. McCain ran under the Republican Party of Bush, but American voters rebuffed him and voted for Democratic Party bet Barack Obama II instead. Fourth placer Teodoro, a former Tarlac congressman and Defense secretary, ranked fourth in the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey with 5 percent. The poll was topped by Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III with 44 percent, and Sen. Manuel Villar with 33 percent. Zubiri conceded that Teodoro has yet to “warm up" with voters “Kailangan mag-warm up muna bago makabuwelo (He has to warm up before getting in his groove)." He urged voters to look beyond Teodoro’s political affiliation and consider his track record. “Tingnan natin si Secretary Teodoro sa kanyang capability at background yung nagawa na niya para tingnan natin yan at di natitingnan kaninong partido ba siya." (I hope people will look at Teodoro for his capability and track record, not at his affiliation. It is a shame the opposite has happened.) Sure winner? Another ally, meanwhile, is confident that Teodoro would eventually improve his survey ratings and win the presidential race in the May polls. “By end of February, it will rise to 15 (percent)," said presidential political adviser Prospero Pichay Jr., adding that such rating could spell victory to the Lakas-Kampi-CMD bet. “If that happens, tapos na ang laban. Tapos na ang boxing because we have the machinery," he said. Solid machinery He said the administration party’s machinery, which he described as “solid" because it has candidates in 90 percent of all local government units, will add another 25 percent to Teodoro's rating. “If we have 15 percent approval rating, plus the 25 percent that will delivered by the machinery, I am sure the next president will be Gilberto Teodoro. The most important survey would be the one in February," he said. Pichay said Teodoro does not have high ratings in the surveys because the ruling party did not commission them. “The other candidates do that. Naturally they have rider questions intended to raise their ratings," he said. - KBK, GMANews.TV