Akbayan Rep. Barry Gutierrez, a spokesperson of Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas told reporters at LP’s Balay headquarters in Quezon City that Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is no longer a “sideshow joke,” after the Davao City Mayor dominated the latest SWS and Pulse Asia survey for the Filipinos preferred presidential candidate.
Rep. Gutierrez was quoted as saying “Now, more people are realizing that Mayor Duterte is a serious candidate and not just a sideshow joke, which was the previous impression of him,” Gutierrez stated.
According to one of the top officials of the ruling Liberal Party, the administration is now taking seriously the mayor’s pronouncements and his candidacy and they believe also that there’s a possibility of consolidation of votes for anti-Duterte people from different parts of the country because of the mayor’s pronouncements on various controversial issues.
The Liberal Party spokesperson on the other hand noted that Mar Roxas was not “too concerned” about his own standing the race as he continues to trail behind Poe and Duterte and is currenlty tied with VP Binay in third or fourth place.
The congressman also believed that the presidential election was still a “tight race” based on the latest survey results.