Cainta, Rizal (CNN Philippines) — PDP-Laban presidential bet Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte said he’s happy with the surge in his survey ratings. But he also admits, there’s a need to campaign harder especially for his running mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
Nonetheless, Duterte said he’s hopeful that the momentum they’re seeing now will be sustained until May 9 elections.
Related: Duterte overtakes Poe in latest Pulse Asia survey
On Tuesday (April 12), Duterte and Cayetano campaigned in Cainta, Rizal. The tandem had a motorcade and was welcomed by Mayor Kit Nieto, whose local party is supporting Duterte but not Cayetano.
Nieto’s party One Cainta is backing the vice presidential bid of Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
He’s also a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), which is endorsing Sen. Grace Poe.
Cayetano, who’s still struggling in surveys, said he’s doing what they can to boost his ratings but he admitted it is challenging.
“We’re doing what we can. Maraming challenges tulad ng pera,” he said.
Cayetano pointed out, unlike Liberal Party’s (LP) vice presidential candidate Leni Robredo, he doesn’t have a big party to fund his campaign — same with Marcos, whom he said also has money to spend.
Also read: Marcos top VP choice in latest Pulse Asia survey
But Cayetano remains optimistic. He said if his numbers continue to rise by three to four percent in the next few weeks, then he still has a good chance.
What’s more important, he said, is that Duterte wins.
“Sa surveys namin na internal we’re doing much better,” he said.
The tandem is aware of the recent tirades of other presidential candidates against them.
“We’re expecting the black propaganda to get worse,” Cayetano said.
Duterte said he believes it’s because of his high ratings.
Also read: Duterte, Marcos take sole leads in latest SWS poll
And he is fighting back on United Nationalist Alliance’s (UNA) Jejomar Binay’s statement calling him “berdugo” or the executioner. He said Binay is the executioner of the economy.
As for Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, who said that Duterte is a threat to democracy, the Davao City mayor just laughed it off and said that it was likely a slip of the tongue on Roxas’ part.
Cayetano said clearly it’s the mayor’s opponents—not democracy—that’s threatened by Duterte.
He added Binay and Roxas might want to look at their backyard because a number of LP and UNA members from Luzon have began talking to Duterte ready to jump ship.
Duterte also heard about Binay’s statement saying that in the end it will be him, Binay and Roxas at the end of this presidential race.
To this, Duterte replied “maybe in 2022” — the only time he said he will concede to the two.
