MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President was unbothered by recent survey results that showed President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, taking the lead in pre-election surveys.
"VP Leni's numbers are respectable considering that she has been focused on working on COVID-19 response initiatives and has paid no attention to the frantic positioning for 2022 at all," Vice President Leni Robredo's spokesperson, Barry Gutierez, said in a statement.
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This came after findings of a survey by Pulse Asia held in June suggested that some six percent of voters would have voted for Vice President Leni Robredo for president if elections were held when the survey was conducted.
The same survey found that 28% of respondents would have voted for Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte for president, while 18% would have voted for her father President Rodrigo Duterte for vice president if elections were held then
READ: Dutertes top Pulse Asia survey: 28% pick Sara for president, 18% pick Rodrigo for VP
"Yung iba diyan, deny ng deny na tatakbo, pero nagkalat naman ang mukha at pangalan sa mga billboard at tarp. Si VP Leni, trabaho lang ang tutok," Gutierrez also said.
(Other people keep denying that they'll run, but their names and faces are showing up on billboards and tarps. Vice President Leni is focused on her work.)
Similar to her father's tangent in 2016, the Davao City mayor said last week that she is "open" to joining the presidential race in 2022 after months of saying she would not run.
Tarpaulins have also been put up in different parts of the country urging her to run.
President Duterte has also floated the possibility of running for vice president, an option that a faction within the administration PDP-Laban party is urging him to take. Party-mates, including Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, said Duterte should also be given the choice of running mate.
Sen.Manny Pacquiao, party president and who has long been eyed as a potential presidential candidate, said the party should decide who it will field in 2022. Duterte has been attacking Pacquiao in his speeches and in televised meetings of the pandemic response task force.
VP still mum on electoral plans
Robredo has not yet disclosed her final plans for the 2022 polls, saying she was solely focused on the coronavirus pandemic for the time being.
Over the past few months, the vice president has been careful to rebuff rumors and speculations over her plans, though she has admitted that a gubernatorial post would be more attractive for her and her skillset.
READ: Robredo to 1Sambayan: Create spaces for unity, inclusivity in opposition
She has also asserted, however, that she remains open and willing to the idea of running for the country's highest post.
Her spokesperson expressed confidence that her numbers would not remain the way they were portrayed in the Pulse Asia survey.
"We remain confident, when, and if, she decides to run for president, the numbers will be there. Hindi pa nagsisimula ang laban (the fight hasn't started yet)," Gutierrez said.
— Franco Luna