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Lessons from the July Pulse Asia survey

For President:

1. The ads of Noli de Castro for Pag-Ibig seem to be working. He also has a Saturday radio show at DZMM. But is it true that he did not appear in his show two Saturdays ago to protest the ad for San Jose Builders of Chiz Escudero -- the production of which was funded by a scion of ABS-CBN Channel 2?

2. The ads of Loren Legarda for Lucida backfired. She was two weeks late in asking for the product owner to dismantle the billboards that showed her fair face and pink dress flowering all over the metropolis.

3. The sorties of Erap Estrada -- and their widespread publicity in the tri-media of TV, radio, and print -- are paying off. That, plus his magnificent gift of gab. Remember what he said regarding the food crises? He did not cite statistics, the way other learned candidates did. He simply said: "Dati pagkain ang nasa mesa, ngayon ipis na lang." I am not sure if any other presidentiable can top that!

4. The visits of Mar Roxas in Panay Island after Typhoon Frank struck are well and good -- but he should visit more, and other non-Visayan public places, often. He should also capitalize on the good will generated by the passage of his Cheaper Medicines Bill. An AM radio show is in order. Now.

5. Sen. Chiz Escudero is heard to have called himself as the Barack Obama of the Philippines. Well, they do look alike -- tall and gangly and with close-cropped hair. And boy, oh boy, those ads for Circulan vitamins and for San Jose Builders seem to be working.

6. Mayor Jojo Binay is going around the country, but I suggest that he -- and also Bayani Fernando -- should visit not just the governor, or the mayor. They should talk to the vendors in the market and the common folk in the barangays, the students in the campuses, the people on the streets. In the end, the LGU leaders are useless in getting votes. They will just sniff the political wind come 2010, and their noses will lean in the direction of the winnable candidate.

For Vice President:

1. Same-same comments for Loren and Chiz.

2. Sen. Kiko Pangilinan needs to wean himself away from his image as Mr. Sharon Cuneta. Bumenta na 'yan. And the voters are now shying away from showbiz candidates, or those endorsed by showbiz wives.

3. Or showbiz superstars, as shown by the dismal showing of Ate Vi as VP. This ghel who dismissed the PhP 500,000 allegedly given to governors by GMA in Malacanang as "this whole hullaballo thing" should just stick to governing it over Batangas, which she does best.

4. Same-same with Bong. He may win in Cavite, or even in Cebu, but never ever forevah in the rest of the country.

5. Sen. Jinggoy has his father's backbone of supporters to thank for. That is at least a solid 20%. But it is not enough to overthrow the juggernaut coming from Chiz Whiz.

As for the senatoriables:

When will Pulse Asia do a non-commissioned survey for senatoriables?

1. Cesar Montano has his Hocim seminars for masons, with a certificate of completion to boot and free Hocim products.

2. Sen. Pia Cayetano is seen more often in her Downey ad.

3. Ace Durano is plastering his face on TV and in print ads for tourism. BTW, how did they arrive at those figures regarding tourism income? And why did they say that more tourists will come in 2010? To watch the elections?

4. Sen. Jamby was on TV last night, with Sen. Bong. They raided a warehouse that stored child porn. Bong is head of the Committee on Entertainment so he had a right to be there. What about her? Malagay lang sa TV...

5. Ralph Recto is crowing his lack of economic knowledge in NEDA by being a bad echolalia of GMA. Listen to his pronouncements regarding the free texting. I am sure the late, brilliant Senator and nationalist Don Claro Mayo Recto must be twisting, turning, and break-dancing in his grave. The poor man.

And I have only this blog, my wicked radio and TV interviews, and my newspaper and online columns.

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