Admin party: Gibo rating to spike during local campaigns

A day before the campaign period for local posts begins, the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD said it expects its standard bearer to benefit from a second-half surge in the campaign period. Lakas-Kampi-CMD vice president for membership and recruitment Prospero Pichay Jr. said on Thursday that local officials allied with the party are ready to pitch Teodoro to their constituents. “Sa Friday, magsisimula ang local campaigns. Ang campaign leaders, ibebenta nila si Gibo. Naniniwala kami na ang produkto namin ay magaling. Pag ibinenta ito ng salesman ng LGU, talagang ito naman magugustuhan ng ating kababayan at malalaman nila ang pinakamagaling at pinakamatalino sa lahat na kandidato si Gibo," Pichay said in an interview on dzXL radio. (The local campaign period will start on Friday. Our leaders at the local government level will sell Gibo to their constituents. We believe we have a good product to sell, and if our salesmen pitch him right, people will realize he is the best of the lot.) He said this will complement the new series of television campaign ads for Gibo. Teodoro has been lagging behind Senators Benigno Simeon Aquino III (Liberal Party), Manuel Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party) and former President Joseph Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino) in recent presidential surveys of pollsters Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia. However, his camp insisted he is leading in other surveys, including campus mock polls and surveys on social networking site, Facebook. On the other hand, Pichay belittled the claims of Villar camp’s that key leaders in Cebu province had abandoned Teodoro in favor of Villar. Pichay said many local officials recently shifted allegiance to the administration party. He did not name names, however. “Kung may tumatalon sa amin isa, maraming tumatalon sa kanila pumupunta sa amin. We just don’t want to publicize it (For every one member who leaves us, many would take their place in return. We just choose not to publicize this)," he said. Even in Cebu, where Villar’s camp got the support of a member of the Garcia clan — mayoralty bet Alvin Garcia — Pichay pointed out the family support was not complete. He said Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and other mayors in Cebu are still for Teodoro. “Lahat na mayor is still with us. For as long as (Governor) Gwen is with us lahat na mayor will still be with us. (All the other mayors of the province are still with us. For as long as Governor Garcia is with us, the other mayors are with us)," he said. - LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV