Braganza says survey a “trick” from Espino camp
GUBERNATORIAL candidate Hernani Braganza of the Liberal Party has brushed off the results of a survey released two weeks before the elections indicating that his lone rival, re-electionist Gov. Amada Espino Jr. has an insurmountable lead over him.
“It seems my rival is shaking in his boots. In panic, he has unleashed every trick in his book of disinformation tactics to arrest his dwindling public support,” Braganza said in a statement.
Braganza also cautioned voters against the proliferation of self-styled survey firms that he said are used by wily candidates to boost their political stock during election season.
“You cannot help but be wary of the motives of so-called survey firms that mushroom in Pangasinan during elections. Their findings are so ridiculous that they deserve to be called ‘fooling firms”, not polling firms,” Braganza said.
A province-wide survey made by Quezon City-based Data Advisors Inc. presented to local newsmen its April19-25 survey result last May 3 showing an “irreversible and overwhelming victory” for Espino of the Nationalist People’s Coalition with 78.5 percent against Braganza with only 21.1 percent of the votes.
Braganza noted that this is not the first time that a previously unknown survey firm has surfaced in Pangasinan to impress on the public that Espino is leading in the gubernatorial race.
Prof. Marion Valencia of the De la Salle Araneta University, a political analyst of the polling firm, said Espino’s lead of 57.4 percentage point translates to about 690,00 votes.
DECIDED?
Braganza questioned how the survey showed 99.6 percent of the respondents had already made up their mind on whom to vote for governor.
“I have participated in many elections. It is highly improbable that almost all the voters are already sure who they will vote for a month before actual election day,” he said.
Braganza also laughed off the allegation by the survey firm that a total of 2,500 respondents in Pangasinan were interviewed for the latest poll.
He said reputable survey firms such as Social Weather Station and Pulse Asia can only afford to conduct poll interviews involving 1,200 respondents nationwide.
“These interviews are expensive and I doubt if any pollster in his right mind would spend millions just to have an inkling of who is winning the Pangasinan gubernatorial race,” he said.
The survey was reportedly commissioned by David Sanchez, a businessman from Baguio City, who is keen on investing in Pangasinan.
LOMIBAO
Meanwhile, retired Philippine National Police chief Arturo Lomibao, Braganza’s running mate for vice governor, said, “While we are taking cognizance of the apparent inconsistency in the breakdown of voting preferences by the respondents (percentage in favor of Lomibao, Calimlim and undecided sums up to 123.4 percent), the 49.1 percent voting preference for Gen. Lomibao is consistent with the results we got from our latest in-house survey, which cover the period April 23-29, 2013.”
Lomibao is up against re-electionist Vice Gov. Ferdinand Calimlim Jr.
Lomibao said results from their in-house survey showed that he and Calimlim are statistically deadlocked with 50.7 percent going for Lomibao and 48.2 percent going for Calimlim and 1.1 percent of the respondents were undecided when the survey was conducted. —Eva Visperas
JDV ENDORSEMENT
Meanwhile, former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. has endorsed Braganza’s candidacy during a meeting last week with barangay and other local leaders in the 4th District.
De Venecia’s wife, 4th District Rep. Gina De Venecia, is running for re-election under the same party as Espino, the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
“I am asking you not only to vote for our next Governor, Hernani Braganza. I am imploring that you campaign and work double-time to ensure his victory in your barangays,” De Venecia said.
He said that he is endorsing Braganza in recognition of the latter’s experience in governance, both in the national and local level, but stopped short of explaining why the public expression of support did not come earlier.
De Venecia did say he still considers Espino a “dear friend” but is not impressed with his performance in the last two terms.
“Gov. Espino is a dear friend. We helped him get elected in 2007 and 2010. But he has done nothing to bring projects to the barangays and help improve the living condition of our people,” De Venecia said.
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