ILOILO City – The seventh survey conducted by the prestigious Random Access Consultants, Inc. (RACI) seems to indicate seven as a lucky number for Cong. Jerry Treñas for consistently topping the series of surveys in the race for mayor.
The seventh and latest survey (March 30 and 31, 2019) polled among 600 residents of 60 barangays from seven districts of Iloilo City – Arevalo, City Proper, Lapuz, La Paz, Molo, Mandurriao, and Jaro – gave Treñas a 63.8 percent majority.
Trailing and sharing the minority percentage behind are incumbent mayor Jose Espinosa III with 26.7 percent; Dr. Pacita Gonzalez, 6.3 percent; Mel Carreon, 1.7 percent; Efren Gimeo, 0.5 percent; Steve Abitang, 0.3 percent; and Rudy Bantolo, 0.3 percent.
The face-to-face survey with a +/- 4 percent margin of error made use of the reliable multi stage probability methodology with a level of confidence of 95 percent.
The latest survey set a consistent trend starting from the first RACI survey on March 16 to 18, 2018 where Treñas bagged 63.7 percent against Espinosa’s 24.7 percent.
The second survey on July 27 to 29, 2018 showed Treñas way ahead with 62.2 percent; and first runner-up Espinosa trailing behind with 29.5 percent.
Incidentally, when these first two surveys were conducted, candidate Gonzalez had not yet declared her intention to run.
In the third survey (Sept. 14 to 16, 2018), Treñas and Espinosa slid down to 60.2 and 27.3, respectively, this time with the inclusion of Gonzalez who placed third with 10.3.
The fourth survey (Nov. 24-25, 2018) gave 58 percent to Treñas, 28.3 to Espinosa and 9.5 to Gonzalez.
The fifth survey (this time by Accu-Poll, Sept. 14 to 16, 2018) upped Treñas to 59 percent while Espinosa went down to 21 and Gonzalez to seven.
Treñas picked up his highest percentage at 64.2 percent in the sixth survey (Feb. 16-17, 2019); followed by Espinosa, 23.3; and Gonzalez, 7.8.
When reached to comment on his consistent lead, the congressman said, “The Ilonggos are performance-oriented. They have seen me walk my talk.”
He said that whenever he runs for a public office, he prepares a program of work to be strictly followed, which he calls “roadmap.”
His program of work for the forthcoming May 13 election is briefly summarized in the acronym “WHEELS”, which stands for “Welfare, Health, Education, Environment, Livelihood, Sustainability.”
Ilonggos remember that, before he became congressman, Treñas had served as councilor; and then for three terms as mayor from 2004 to 2010.
In 1992, he coined the slogan “Think Big! Think Iloilo!”
In 2006, he launched the slogan “Iloilo City: Premier City by 2015.” There is now no doubt he did the ground work for making it come true.
“I predict that by the year 2028,” Treñas said, “given good governance, Iloilo City would have inevitably gained national recognition as one of the top three best urbanized cities in the country in terms of livability, competitiveness, viability and governance practice.”
The seventh survey also showed other local National Unity Party (NUP) candidates – Jeffrey Ganzon for vice mayor and Julienne “Jam-jam” Baronda for congresswoman – leading their respective packs./PN
