Perlas decries lack of media coverage of presidential bid

Environmentalist Nicanor Perlas decried on Thursday the lack of media coverage of his presidential campaign, saying the media have ignored that he has a political base enough to propel him to the presidency. During Unang Hirit's Hiritan 2010, Perlas said he has the backing of "significant segments" of the D and E classes but this has not been covered by the media, thus creating the impression that his presidential bid is futile. Perlas claimed that groups from the indigenous peoples, farmers, Muslim, and the urban poor are backing his candidacy, and said he believes he has an 8 out of 10 chance of winning the presidency. "Several major national organizations ng mga katutubo are already behind my candidacy, bringing in about four million potential voters with them," Perlas said in response to economist Winnie Monsod's question on whether he has a political base. "Ang problema kasi sometimes Winnie hindi kinocover ng press eh, maski na nagpepress release kami, sinasabi namin na may ganitong support," Perlas said. "Otherwise wala na ko sa running if there's no support coming on."
Perlas has consistently ranked low on presidential preference surveys. In the latest Pulse Asia survey released last March, he got a 0.2-percent rating, ranking 8th among 10 presidential candidates considered for the survey. At the time the survey was conducted, Vetellano Acosta of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan was still in the running for the presidency. The Commission on Elections disqualified Acosta on March 4. Shrugging off presidential preference surveys as based only on popularity, Perlas pointed out that environmental groups had named him as the presidential candidate with the best environmental platform. [See: Perlas tops environment groups' survey] Perlas was one of the Philippines’ delegation to the 1992 Earth Summit. He also became co-chair of the Green Forum of environmental groups in the 1990s. He has also worked as a consultant for several agencies of the United Nations and for several branches of the government. — RSJ, GMANews.TV