By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines (AA) – The camp of leading presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte has warned Filipinos of possible mass cheating in Monday’s elections, accusing the administration of “relentless attempts to subvert the will of the people.”
In a statement issued Thursday, Duterte’s national campaign manager Leoncio Evasco Jr. lambasted what he called “bogus surveys” showing Mar Roxas, the anointed candidate of outgoing Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, leading the presidential race.
“These [surveys] are a prelude to cheating and are all part of a system of election fraud laid down by the administration,” Evasco claimed.
“We have warned the public already, and we are again warning the Filipino people of possible massive cheating in the elections on Monday. The administration will be relentless in its attempts to subvert the will of the Filipino people.”
Surveys of two credible outfits — SWS Survey and Pulse Asia — showed Duterte with a 10-point lead over Roxas and Grace Poe, both statistically tied on second place.
The “bogus survey” Evasco referred to — from D’Strafford Research and Strategies Inc. — shows Roxas leading.
Evasco claimed that such polls are put out to try to condition the minds of Filipinos that Roxas is likely to win.
“We should not belittle the desperation of Roxas Aquino, and the yellow ilk [the color of Aquino’s Liberal Party] because they are in power and in control of the resources, including funds… They may have the money and the machinery, but we have each other and the collective desire for real change,” Leoncio said.
If Duterte wins, the tough talking Catholic mayor of Davao City will be the first president from southern Mindanao Island.
In his campaign, Duterte has pushed for a change of system of government, advocating federalism.
He has also called for peace negotiations with the two Muslim rebel groups in the southern Philippines — the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Moro National Liberation Front — as well as with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
CPP founder, Jose Maria Sison, was Duterte’s professor at the Lyceum University.
Sison who is in self-exile in The Netherlands has told GMA News that he will come home if Duterte wins.
