My Mushings

According to Inquirer Presidential candidate Manuel Villar ‘s hold on the poor is weakening and the backing of Benigno Aquino III has given Aquino a clear lead over Villar, this statement according to results of a nationwide survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) this month.

At the same time there is also a rise in support by the rich and middle class for Aquino and huge dip in the support for Villar. This is seen from the 6 percentage points from 34 percent in February to 28 percent in the SWS survey conducted from March 19 to 22.

The rating of Aquino, Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate, has increased by just 1 point to 37 percent, but this arrested for the first time the steady decline in his ratings over the past four months, according to the newspaper Business World, which has the exclusive right of first publication of the survey results.

The survey had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.2 percentage points for national figures. SWS conducted a survey for 2,100 registered voters nationwide—300 in Metro Manila and 600 each in the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao—whom they would vote for president if elections were held at the time. The respondents were asked to privately fill out a ballot containing the names of the official candidates in alphabetical order.  The margin of error was plus-or-minus 6 points for Metro Manila and plus-or-minus 4 points for the three other areas.

Loss of support for Villar was stark among those in Class ABC, with his rating plunging 16 points, from 33 to 17 percent. Aquino’s rating jumped from 30 to 45 percent in Class ABC. Villar specified the drop in his rating to black propaganda employed by his rivals.

This statement below is where Senator ‘Manny Villar Talks about his brother, Tondo House and other things that you might want to know.

Manny Villar Talks about his brother, Tondo House and More

Poll surveys are just mere information that may be realistic or not depending on the validity of the respondents. If the respondents asked are really a representative sample of the total population then the possibility that the results are true is high. May 10 is upon us and whether we like it or the heat is definitely on.

For the candidates here are some questions that should be worth answering. How do you make the most of criticism? Do you overreact and do you think that you are missing out on any opportunity to benefit from the feedback that comes with the survey?

There’s no question that, for most of us, receiving criticism is not easy.  Even when it’s well-intentioned constructive feedback, listening to  someone point out an error that you made or a flaw that you have can be very tough to take.

So I call on the candidates whether for local or national elections. Be a good example to your children, the youth and most especially your constituents. Don’t engage in mudslinging and avoid being backed into a corner that will leave you no choice but to engage in Black Propaganda to get even.

Stop the black propaganda against your political rivals. Be the bigger person and don’t fight fire with fire. Being on the receiving end of a negative feedback is never easy. Being the target of a black propaganda will be especially difficult if you have children and they will be the most affected.

To all my fellow voters we are the change that needs to be seen. We all long for a decent and civilized election campaign less the drama and the mudslinging and black propaganda that has always been part of our tumultuous political landscape.  I truly believe that candidates have been gifted with very strong credentials that they their supporters don’t need to use these kinds of dirty campaigning.