Binay slides, Mar climbs but PNoy won’t pick ‘anointed one’ solely on popularity

President Benigno Aquino III won't choose his preferred successor based on popularity alone, his spokesman said Monday.

 

Asked to comment on the latest Pulse Asia Survey on presidential preferences for 2016, Aquino's spokesman, Secretary Edwin Lacierda, said the President "[remained] committed to the principles of good governance."

 

"The President has his own yardstick in choosing his preferred candidate, and that was mentioned in his SONA [State of the Nation Address], that is, the one who will undoubtedly continue the reforms that he has started," Lacierda said in a text message.

 

Earlier in the day, Pulse Asia released survey results showing a decline in the number of Filipinos who were inclined to vote for Vice President Jejomar Binay as their next President.

 

Binay, the presumptive standard-bearer of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) in 2016, however, remained as the top choice for the presidency despite plunder charges filed against him and a Senate inquiry into the allegedly overpriced P2.7-billion Makati City Hall Building II.

 

Interior Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II, the most likely bet of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) in the upcoming presidential polls, was a distant second in the Pulse Asia poll, but managed to close the gap between him and Binay.

 

Aquino, LP chairman, has been silent about his presidential pick for 2016.

 

During his State of the Nation Address in July, the President said his successor should be one who would undoubtedly continue the "reforms" under his administration.

 

Lacierda said Malacañang would "leave the analysis of the survey to the political parties, their spokespersons and to political analysts."

 

He, however, acknowledged the surveys on presidential preferences are "a matter of keen interest to the public." —NB, GMA News