Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero strengthened his position as the top favorite of students to win the senatorial elections on May 9 after 67.7% of the respondents picked him in the mock polls conducted by Saint Columban College in Pagadian City.
Escudero, the only incumbent governor running for senator, landed the top spot among more than 60 candidates vying for the 12 seats in the Senate during the college’s senatorial mock polls conducted recently.
Students of La Salle University-Ozamiz, Sorsogon State University and Philippine National University-Mindanao campus have also made Escudero their No. 1 choice for senator.
Aside from the Pagadian City-based school, students of three more universities—La Salle University-Ozamiz, Sorsogon State University, and Philippine National University-Mindanao campus—have made him their No. 1 choice for senator.
More than 30 colleges and universities that conducted their respective mock elections have included the provincial governor in their Magic 12.
Escudero has been the students’ favorite candidate in various school surveys.
He also topped a pre-election survey conducted by the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), which is composed of 1,525 member schools.
Based on various independent national surveys, Escudero appears to be firmly on track to win a fresh six-year term in the Senate.
He again led other candidates in the Pahayag senatorial survey of Publicus Asia released on April 25 and recently placed third in the opinion poll conducted by the RP-Mission and Development Foundation, Inc. (RPMD) which was made available on April 29, 10 days before the national elections on May 9.
If elected to the Senate anew, Escudero said he would focus on giving more autonomy to local government units, ensure the judicious and prudent utilization of the annual budget, and help transition the pandemic-weary economy to recovery, among others.
“Escudero will play a big role in crafting key pieces of legislation and reforms at a time when the country is besieged with challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
President Duterte has endorsed Escudero’s senatorial bid, saying the governor will play a big role in crafting key pieces of legislation and reforms at a time when the country is besieged with challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor and vice-presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio is personally backing his Senate comeback bid.
The tandems of Senator Ping Lacson and Senate President Tito Sotto; Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan; and Senator Manny Pacquiao and Rep. Lito Atienza have adopted Escudero in their senatorial slates.
The League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) has also included him in the list of six senatorial bets it is endorsing for the May 9 voting, while mayors from CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) and Eastern Samar, who belong to the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP), are likewise supporting his Senate return.
Escudero is also endorsed by several party-list groups, including Ang Probinsyano, Ang Kabuhayan, Agimat, An Waray, ARISE, BHW, Kusog Bikolano, KAPUSO-PM, Makabayan and Uswag Ilonggo, as well as the youth-oriented group Nationalist Social-Democratic Society.
The 200,000-strong Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), one of the biggest non-government organizations in the country, has committed to campaign for Escudero.
