Why is Roco persisting in his quest?

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Belinda Olivares-Cunanan

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Raul Roco's announcement that his US doctor has assured him that he has 10 more years of productive public service is welcome news to all his friends, including myself. Serving the nation can come in many forms and even if the presidency might have already eluded him at this stage, his brilliant mind can continue to serve as fiscalizer for the incoming administration. But a number of people, including some of his friends, have opined that perhaps the better option for him would have been to quit the campaign upon his arrival, since he came home still obviously in pain and doubts linger over his health. In the homestretch of the campaign, it really seems rather sad that Roco may be forcing himself to go on despite his pain and his low survey ratings.

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With just nine days left in the campaign, it's hard to see the current trend toward a GMA victory being reversed. There's a theory that the reason Roco is pushing on, despite the plunge in his ratings during his absence, is that he doesn't want to yield his remaining votes to GMA. Perhaps he's also looking after his senatorial candidates, afraid that the media would ignore them if he were not around. But there may be some truth to the first explanation since there is evidence that the majority of his votes will go to her. The most recent SWS survey showed that his rating plunged from 15 percent in March to 8.4 percent after his departure, and this coincided with the big increase in GMA's rating from 31.4 percent to 35.3 percent.

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On the other hand, the "Philippine Corporate Update Program" survey of CEOs conducted by the Wallace Business Forum over the last four quarters from July 2003 showed that three other candidates shared Roco's votes. In July 2003, Roco was preferred by 38 percent of the respondents compared to GMA's very low 12 percent, but in October 2003, he still had 38 percent behind him compared with her 26. GMA then tied with Roco at 45 percent in February, but last month, after Roco left for the US, GMA took 46 percent while Roco support plunged to 20 percent. It was Panfilo Lacson and Eddie Villanueva who profited in a bigger way: from a score of 10 percent in February 2004, Lacson had 22 percent in April, while Villanueva picked up 11 percent. Only one candidate's rating was consistent: FPJ got a zero in all the four quarters.