Postscript DUTERTE BID BLOOMS AS THAT OF POE FADES

By Federico D. Pascual Jr.

Columnist, Philippine Star

A GROWING number of voters seem to be realizing that Sen. Grace Poe Llamanzares’ claim to being a natural-born citizen is legally untenable and her executive track record not that solid – while they see an alternative would-be president in tough-talking Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

It is too early to say as the numbers have not firmed up. Still, the last survey in Metro Manila – far from the home ground of Duterte – showed him leading the presidential pack with 34 percent against the 26 percent of Poe, the erstwhile favorite.

Last September when he was not yet a declared presidential candidate, Duterte with 27 percent already placed second to Poe in Metro Manila, behind her 31 percent. Binay was third with 26 percent, and Roxas fourth with 13 percent.

We are reading Duterte’s chart against Poe’s, because the mayor said he was prompted to run after the political majority in the Senate Electoral Tribunal ruled that the neophyte senator is natural-born and therefore qualified to keep her Senate seat (and run for president).

• Where Manila goes so will the nation?

BUT THE AREA surveyed by Pulse Asia was just Metro Manila? That is precisely the exclamation point! It calls to mind the hoary adage that where Manila, the economic and political capital, goes so goes the rest of the nation.

The metropolis, a melting pot where some 12 percent of the national population lives and works, is far from the Mindanao bailiwick of Duterte.

Yet the poll results reflect deep and wide support for him – meaning his message, platform and his no-nonsense approach to governance issues have resonated as far north as Manila even before he filed his certificate of candidacy last Friday.

In the survey last Nov. 11-12, one in every three voters in the national capital said he would vote for Duterte if elections were held that day. The 70-year-old bet dominated all economic and social classes.

To Duterte’s 34 percent, Poe got 26, Vice President Jojo Binay 22, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas 11, and Sen. Miriam Santiago 7 percent.

• Bets’ differentiation now clearer

TO MANY of us who are disturbed by runaway crime to the point of desperation, if not surrender, Duterte’s style of dealing with petty and big-time hoodlums is a welcome change from the Aquino administration’s waffling.

With the entry of game-changer Duterte, there is now product differentiation. For instance, while Mar Roxas appears as arguably the best equipped candidate for the Palace job, he lacks – like tepid soup – the zing of a decisive leader.

Everybody must now rethink his campaign messaging. Roxas can no longer simply offer more of the same Aquino “daang matuwid” menu and the others should do better than merely rewriting it.

Poe’s constitutional infirmities and her lackluster executive background have started to show. Binay has been hobbled by perceptions of corruption. Santiago must overcome fears of her followers that she may not survive the presidency.

But even Duterte the iron man is not exempt from the corrosive dirt of Philippine politics. Keep your ear cocked for the signal to start his demolition.