Villar has only himself to blame for falling poll ratings, Noynoy says

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte — Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr. has no one to blame but himself for his falling survey ratings, leading presidential candidate Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III says. This was what his closest rival for the presidency, Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, had to say Tuesday after the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed Aquino gaining a double-digit lead over Villar, whose score dropped by two points to 26 percent. [See: Noynoy has double-digit lead in new SWS election survey] "Di ba ang daming pagkakataon sagutin ni Sen. Villar ang ang mga issues na nahaharap sa kanya, pinili niya di harapin squarely (Sen. Villar had a lot of chances to answer the allegations against him, but he chose not to face them squarely)," Aquino said. "Yung numero po dun wala sigurong talagang dapat sisihin kundi sarili din niya (Perhaps he has no one to blame but himself for the ratings)," Aquino said. "Baka naman ho talaga sa haba ng panahon naklaro na rin talaga ang kakulangan sa sinabi niya noong araw (Maybe people have realized over the course of time that there were loopholes in what he was saying then)." . Villar had earlier downplayed the results of the BusinessWorld-commissioned survey, saying surveys were just an indicator of possible election results. [See: Villar: Surveys just one indicator of poll results] "Mahalaga ang survey pero isa lamang iyan sa pwedeng pagbasehan kung ano ang magiging resulta ng eleksyon (Surveys are important but these are just one of the bases of the results of elections)," Villar told reporters on the sidelines of a presidential forum Monday night organized by religious groups. Villar said the other aspects that should be considered are the support of the local officials and groups and political machinery, among others. Villar has consistently trailed Aquino in presidential preference surveys despite his aggressive advertising campaign. The latest controversies to hit him were allegations that he used his influence to earn billions from an allegedly illegal stock deal and questions on whether he was really dirt-poor as he claimed in his ads. Villar has denied any wrongdoing in all the issues hurled against him. On Monday, his mother "Nanay Curing" came to his defense, decrying the "lies" supposedly being spread about her son and maintaining that they were very poor before family members, Villar in particular, worked their way out of poverty. — RSJ, GMANews.TV