Noynoy to woo vote-rich Pangasinan in 5-province swing before Holy Week

Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III will woo vote-rich Pangasinan province in a five-province swing before the Holy Week sets in. The Liberal Party on Monday said Aquino and running mate Sen. Manuel Roxas II will kick off their sortie in Pangasinan, with Aquino’s celebrity sister Kris Aquino-Yap in tow. As of July 2009, the number of registered voters in Pangasinan was placed at 1,454,484. Other provinces in the five-province swing include Olongapo City (Zambales), Imus (Cavite), Bataan, and Naga (Camarines Sur). Aquino and the LP will be in Pangasinan Tuesday and Wednesday, then will proceed to Olongapo City in Zambales and in Imus in Cavite on Thursday. On Friday, they will proceed to Bataan province and campaign for Valenzuela City. They will cap the day with a rally in Manila, led by political ally and reelectionist Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim. On that day, the campaign period for those seeking local posts will begin. A rally in Naga City was also scheduled on Saturday. Aquino has been leading other presidential contenders based on popularity surveys. On Monday, however, GMA News reported that Nacionalista Party's Manuel Villar Jr. has slightly overtaken Aquino based on a survey conducted by the political monitoring organization Issue and Advocacy Center. A report aired over GMA News' "24 Oras" said of the 2,400 respondents, 28 percent chose Villar while 26 percent picked Aquino. The survey was conducted from March 3 to 10. [See: Villar overtakes Noynoy in The Center survey] — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV