SAP Go moves up; Sara, Bato in top 12

SAP’s day with kids Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go shares rice cakes, steamed rice and other native delicacies for breakfast during his visit to Dumaguete City where he also met with local officials on keeping a healthy lifestyle. MALACAÑANG PHOTO

A pre-poll Pulse Asia survey showed Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Kuya Bong” Go steadily moving up to 23rd to 31st place from the 28th to 38th place last March.

The awareness level among respondents, at 52 percent, on Go was among the lowest in the survey indicating the need for more efforts to make him known to the public if he decides on a Senate run.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and now Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) head Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa are among the favorites in the race for the 12 Senate seats in the midterm polls, the poll also showed.

The poll, conducted from June 15 to 21, showed the President’s daughter garnered 46.2 percent preference which was good for fourth place in the survey released Monday morning.

Dela Rosa, on the other hand, got 37.7 percent of respondents saying that they would vote for him, enough for a fifth to 12th place spot in the Senate’s “Magic 12”.

Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe still enjoyed a huge following as she topped the survey with 67.4 percent of respondents saying they will pick her in next year’s polls. Poe will run for her second term as senator in 2019.

Former senator and Taguig Representative Pia Cayetano was a far second with 55.7 voter preference on a 97 percent awareness level.

Senator Cynthia Villar ranked third with 50.1 percent, while Senator Sonny Angara placed fifth in the survey with 41.9 percent.

Former Senator Jinggoy Estrada was ranked sixth with 37.9 percent in the survey.

Completing the 12 available Senate slots are Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III (37.7 percent), Sen. Nancy Binay (37.1 percent), former Sen. Serge Osmeña (36.6 percent), former Sen. Lito Lapid (36.2 percent) and Sen. JV Ejercito (35.6 percent).

On the chances of the lower-ranked personalities in the survey, Senate President Tito Sotto said “anyone in the vicinity of 15 to 18 percent at this point especially if your awareness level is low will have nothing to worry about.”

“You should campaign, you should follow the important tenets of winning an election,” Sotto added.

“The elections are still 10 months away,” he said.

Other potentials who got good numbers in the survey, which polled 1,800 registered voters who were at least 18 years old, were Senator Bam Aquino (32.1 percent), Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos (29.9 percent), Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista (28.5 percent), actor Robin Padilla (28.2 percent), broadcaster Mon Tulfo (27.1 percent), former Senator Mar Roxas (26.7 percent), former Senator Bong Revilla (26.7 percent) and broadcast journalist Ted Failon (25.8 percent).

Of the total respondents, 4.8 percent are not inclined to support any of the names supplied by Pulse Asia. The nationwide survey’s error margin was placed at ±2 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

For the geographic areas, subnational estimates’ error margins at the 95 percent confidence level were plus/minus six percent for Metro Manila, plus/minus three percent for the rest of Luzon and plus/minus five percent for each of Visayas and Mindanao.

SAP Go, meanwhile, was in Dumaguete City recently to announce the establishment of a Malasakit Center in Negros.

While he was in the city, thousands of his supporters gathered to urge “Kuya Bong,” as he is fondly known, to “listen to the will of the people” and run for a seat in the Senate in 2019.

For his part, Kuya Bong said that it is too early to talk about politics and the final decision will be up to Tatay Digong (President Duterte).

“My sole focus for now is on doing my job. I’m advancing the President’s campaign against drugs, criminality and corruption. It’s only because of my job to help that I’m usually seen in public,” Go said.

The local Malasakit Center will be a one-stop shop comprised of different agencies which can provide help to families of patients who wish to settle medical expenses such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

(PhilHealth), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

Apart from the center, an ambulance that will render free service will also be donated by the government.

Go noted that the ambulance will greatly benefit locals as it takes one to two hours to reach hospitals in the city at the moment.

Go received an enthusiastic welcome from Cagayan de Oro locals who went so far as to arrange a gathering at the USTP Gymnasium, Cagayan De Oro to express their support to the Duterte administration and to urge the top presidential aide to seek a Senate seat.

“It’s up to the President. I will just do as he says, in case I will run for senator. Right now, my focus is to help those victims of fire. My job is to help Filipinos,” Go said.

Kuya Bong attended the gathering, organized by the “Go na Tayo Northern Mindanao Alliance.” The members of the group are spread out in the provinces of Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte and Bukidnon.