IT DOES SEEM like an effortless segue; all one has to do is to add the prefix Jr. and you can hardly notice the difference. Perhaps there’s really no difference at all.
Incumbent Iloilo governor Arthur Defensor Sr. is on his last term and come the midterm local elections his son, currently 3rd District congressman Arthur Defensor Jr. a.k.a.”‘Toto” is poised to take over as the next governor of Iloilo Province.
And it has come to pass he won as governor, that is if elections were held on that day.
Excerpts from the Aug. 13 issue of Panay News:
Race for Iloilo governor: Toto Defensor tops survey
If the elections were held today, Cong. Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr. would come out victorious in the race for provincial governor.
In a province-wide survey conducted by Random Access Consultants, Inc. from July 25 to 29, 2018, Defensor got an overall voter preference of 60.7 percent. His possible opponent, Cong. Ferjenel Biron, got 32.2 percent only.
In these face-to-face interviews with 1,200 sampling respondents from 120 barangays in the entire province, the margin of error was placed at +3 percent, according to the surveying firm.
Of the total respondents – who were at least 18 years old and registered voters of the province – 220 came from the 1st District; 200 from the 2nd District; 260 from the 3rd District; 240 from the 4th District; and 280 from the 5th District.
Seventy-four respondents or 6.2 percent of those surveyed, said they have not yet decided whom to choose from the two gubernatorial wannabes.
The question asked of the respondents was: “Kon subong nga adlaw ang eleksyon, sin-o ang imo pilion sa pagka-governador (If the elections were held today, who you would vote for governor)?”
A total of 728 voters or 60.7 percent representing the total number of the voting population in the province of Iloilo, said Defensor was their man. Biron got 398 positive responses or 33.2 percent.
The survey results by district – with the same question – also showed Defensor bagging the highest voter preference except in the 4th District of Biron.
In the 1st District, Defensor got 56.4 percent while Biron had 31.4 percent.
In the 2nd District, Defensor got 74.5 percent; Biron, 21 percent.
Defensor got 81.2 percent in the 3rd District while Biron, 10.8 percent.
Biron got the upper hand in the 4th District with his 73.8 percent voter preference; Defensor got 25.8 percent.
In the 5th District, Defensor got 65 percent while Biron had 29.3 percent only.
The survey also showed Defensor enjoying the highest score in all levels of social strata, sex classification, educational attainment, and age levels, except for age 18-21 wherein Defensor and Biron were statistically tied.
Moi is pretty sure that the opposite camp’s response would be it’s just a survey and not the actual elections, and it could be rigged for all we know.
Of course it is just a survey, but if that’s any indications then any candidate wanting to be governor of Iloilo province would take it seriously and prepare Plan B.
The survey is basically a “one on one” between Biron and Defensor Jr. which is expected as both have seriously announced their plans to run for governor of Iloilo province.
Based on that survey, it’s a lopsided victory, almost a massacre with Defensor winning in four out of five districts of Iloilo Province. And take note, with commanding leads and in almost all demographics and social strata.
Biron must be squirming in his drawers or knickers. Of course moi does not know if they’re Marks and Spencer or Calvin Klein or if they’re drawers or knickers.
But whatever it is Ferjenel is wearing under his trousers does not really matter; definitely with this survey results he must be concerned if not uncomfortable.
Seriously guys, moi does not really know Ferjenel Biron, never met him. If I was having my usual caffeine fix in Starbucks and he walks in I’d probably never notice him.
Moi heard that Ferjenel is filthy rich; whether he is as filthy rich as Rommel Ynion we do not know for sure. We also have no idea if he has been described as an ATM.
So he’s a medical doctor by profession and a politician by practice but moi is pretty sure he still remembers the Hippocratic Oath and lives by it.
And we segue to Arthur Defensor Jr. a.k.a. “Toto”. The last time I saw him was almost 40 years ago and he was still in short pants, football shorts, that is. He was a midfielder on the Assumption Iloilo U-13 Football Team and moi was the coach.
You can say that I know him quite well as a 12-year-old footballer and his attitudes and skills on the pitch. But as an adult, not much except from what I read on the newspapers and he’s now a lawyer and a politician.
It’s still a year to go till elections but for now based on that survey, Arthur Defensor Jr. won as governor of Iloilo Province. Who knows maybe when the next survey comes out Ferjenel Biron will win or not. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
