Erap camp vows to catch up with Noynoy in final days of campaigns

Former president and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard-bearer Joseph Estrada welcomed on Thursday Pulse Asia’s survey showing he was second most preferred candidate for the presidency. Estrada, who was jailed and later pardoned, also vowed to catch up with the frontrunner, Liberal Party bet Senator Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III in the final days of the campaign. “This is obviously good news in terms of ranking although we still need to catch up with Noynoy in terms of percentages… The next 10 days are critical," said Estrada’s spokesperson Margaux Salcedo in a text message sent to the media on Thursday. The April 2010 Pulse Asia survey showed Estrada, who previously ranked third in various pre-election presidential preference survey, tied in second place with Nacionalista Party presidential bet Manuel Villar Jr., both getting the nod of 20 percent of the respondents. However, Estrada and Villar continued to trail behind Aquino in the Pulse Asia poll, with a 39-percent preference rating — 19 percentage points ahead of the second placers. Estrada’s camp attributed the former president’s surge in survey ratings to his being the “true pro-poor" candidate for the country’s top post. “This reflects that the people are now seeing beyond the campaign propaganda of other camps and discerning who truly the opposition is and who is truly pro-poor," Salcedo said in the same text message. Estrada’s spokesperson likewise took a swipe at LP’s promise of change, saying it is “empty" without a competent leader. “In the next few days, we hope to establish that the “change" that the LP proposes is empty without a leader with proven competence, political will and commitment to the masses," she said. - LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV