Roxas mum on SWS survey showing him tailing Poe, Binay

MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II was mum on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey that showed him in second place in the 2016 presidential race.

Roxas declined to comment when asked by reporters in Calumpit, Bulacan about the SWS poll, which showed him obtaining 22 percent, behind independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay, who were statistically tied in first place.

However, Pulse Asia, which also released the results of its poll earlier this week, showed that Roxas ranked fourth with 17 percent, down from 20 percent in September.

“Merry Christmas!” was all Roxas said when reporters pressed him for a comment on the SWS survey.

Allies of Roxas said they are hoping the erratic voters’ preference will be to his advantage, and he could steadily improve in the polls until the elections next May.

Roxas earlier said he was unfazed by the Pulse Asia survey, saying “the most important survey is on Election Day in May 2016.”

“We’ve seen this long before that it’s erratic — last month, Grace was first; last week, it was Duterte. Now it’s Binay. Maybe in the next (survey), it’ll be me,” Roxas said in a statement in Filipino.

“What’s important is that our record is clean, we’ve a clear platform on where we want to bring our country and clear benefits of daang matuwid (straight path). I’ll just continue my campaign,” he said.