Persistence, hardwork key to victory — Duterte camp

The campaign manager of presidential candidate and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said they are working doubly hard to cover more grounds as the first half of the campaign period winds down.
“Persistence and hard work will be key to victory,” outgoing Maribojoc, Bohol Mayor Leoncio Evasco Jr. said in a statement which came shortly after Duterte was reported to have gained a virtual deadlock with Senator Grace Poe in voter preference for the presidential race.
In a survey commissioned by ABS-CBN and conducted by Pulse Asia, Duterte is now just a point at 25 percentage points behind the 26 of Grace Poe.
With a margin of error of 1.5 percent, Duterte is finally catching up with the poll leaders for the first time since the presidential campaign period started on February 9.
“We are where we are comfortable right now. We expect to gain more points as we move towards the second half of the campaign,” Evasco added.
What is more revealing, he said, is that Duterte gained more grounds during the week of the survey when the Supreme Court overturned a Comelec decision to disqualify Poe.
The survey involved more than 4,000 respondents and was conducted from March 8 to 13.
The Supreme Court decision allowing Poe to run for the president came out on March 8.
The former chief of staff of Duterte credited the rise of Duterte’s ranking to the clamor of the people for genuine change in the national leadership.
“There is this growing groundswell of discontent among the people and they see in Duterte the strong leadership that the country has been wanting over the last decade,” Evasco explained.
While being cautious about momentum, Evasco said the Holy Week will provide them opportunity to assess where they went very strong and gained more converts.
“Of course, we are happy with the results of the survey,” he further said.
Duterte media head Peter Lavina also explained that the result of the debate in Cebu on Sunday could further boost the mayor’s image as a decisive leader.
In his closing statement after the 3-hour debate, Duterte promised to provide leadership in the fractured country.