LIGAO, Albay - Aksyon Demokratiko presidential candidate Isko Moreno Domagoso's camp dismissed Pulse Asia's February 2022 survey results as "outdated".
The latest Pulse Asia presidential preference survey, released Monday, showed that while Domagoso gained about 2 percentage points, he was far behind frontrunner Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. who got 60 percentage points, and Vice President Leni Robredo who came in second place with 15 percentage points.
"The field work of their research was done mid-February. That's a month old. A lot of events have happened since," Lito Banayo, Domagoso's campaign manager, said in a statement.
"Though we cannot divulge our internal tracking, those numbers [from Pulse Asia] are outdated," he said.
Aksyon Demokratiko chairman Ernest Ramel Jr. also downplayed the results, noting that the study was conducted between February 18 and 23.
"Ang internal numbers na nakukuha namin na mas malapit sa kasalukuyang panahon ay may mas malaki ng pagkakaiba hambing sa numero ng Pulse Asia," Ramel said in a separate statement.
(Our internal numbers that we got more recently showed very different figures from Pulse Asia's.)
"Sa nakikita naming numero: Pababa na si Marcos Jr. at patuloy ang pag-angat ni Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso," he said, referring to another survey.
(From the numbers we see, Marcos Jr. is sliding down, while Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso's numbers continue to improve.)
Domagoso said he is "happy" for candidates who ranked high in the recent Pulse Asia poll.
"I'm happy for them, to those who enjoy their numbers, but I'm happy with the people," he told reporters on the sidelines of his sortie here.
"We will go and engage the people. I think what matters most is the people. The way we see the people going and attending to us, if not all, most of them spend their own money," he said.
Domagoso's camp has repeatedly described their rallies as "organic", while also alleging that other candidates have been recruiting and paying several people to thicken the crowds in their respective sorties.
"We'll try to reach as many as possible," he said.
"Medyo tedious lang talaga (This is just a bit tedious) and what we call retail campaign," he added.
While Domagoso did not directly answer if he has enough time to turn the tide in his favor in terms of pre-election survey results, he said he is clinging unto his faith in God.
"Of all your questions about those numbers, maniwala ka, may Diyos naman (believe that we have a God)," he said.
"Hindi naman siguro mabigat ang kasalanan ng Pilipinas para mapariwara tayo," he added.
(I don't think the Philippines' sin is so grave that we will be forsaken.)