A torch-lighting ceremony is attended by various groups of Rizalistas before midnight on Thursday below the 22-foot statue of the country’s national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal. The groups gathered at the 22-foot statue of Rizal in Calamba City, Laguna to celebrate his 154th birthday on June 19. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) — President Benigno Aquino III’s improved satisfaction rating will benefit the presidential candidate he will endorse next month, his spokesman said Friday.
In a text message, presidential spokesman Sec. Edwin Lacierda said the 10-percentage-point rise in Aquino’s rating shows that the President still has political capital to endorse his preferred successor.
“Many pundits have predicted that with the previous survey numbers, he is a lameduck. This quarter’s survey numbers prove otherwise,” Lacierda said.
“He will continue to play front and center in the 2016 elections. It also shows that people continue to respond to his call to continue to tread Daang Matuwid,” he added.
A poll conducted by Social Weather Stations this month showed Aquino’s net satisfaction rating increased by 10 percentage points from an all-time-low of +11 percent last March, or two months after the deadly Jan. 25 Mamasapano clash.
Further, the Palace official said that Aquino’s improved rating will help boost the candidacy of his anointed one.
“Playing front and center, his high numbers will certainly bode well for the candidate the president will endorse!” Lacierda said.
Aquino has repeatedly said that he will reveal his preferred successor after his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) next month.
Although mum on his choice, the President has recently publicly praised Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the ruling Liberal Party’s presumptive bet who has been trailing behind recent presidential preference polls.
Aquino, however, has ruled out the possibility of endorsing Vice President Binay, the opposition’s presumptive bet who is currently facing corruption allegations.
Budget Secretary Butch Abad also earlier revealed that Aquino already instructed the LP, which the President chairs, to give all-out support for Roxas. (MNS)