INQUIRER.net Eleksyon 2007

Quezon’s bias based on coffee-shop tales

Inquirer

It is not difficult to understand why Manuel L. Quezon III’s May 21 column titled, “Machinery gave up the ghost” should take the wrong view on the still ongoing elections. The gentleman, though, must attempt to temper his biases lest we start to believe that he is part of a campaign to condition the mind of the electorate to discredit any legitimate win of any Team Unity senatorial candidate. Unless Quezon’s allegations are substantiated, Inquirer readers should be told that what he writes are mere figments of his fertile imagination and a disservice to the right of the people to be informed.

Quezon’s ignorance of the efforts of the Team Zubiri campaign staff and thousands of volunteers all over the country leads him to make statements based on stories he probably heard in coffee shops.

Quezon should not take anything away from my team. We worked hard to get to where we are now in the canvass and the surveys conducted prior to the elections. In addition to the sorties organized by Team Unity, our team made use of all available time to visit as many public markets, and attend as many political rallies and town hall meetings as the days allowed. Quezon was never with us when we started at dawn and finished late in the evening, or in the wee hours of the morning even. He was not with us when we reached out to as many people as we possibly could, in as many motorcades as our resources allowed.

Quezon was not aware of all the strategies, both new and time-tested, employed by my team. He did not hear all seven versions of our radio ads released only to local radio stations. He didn’t monitor the activities of my wife, Audrey, who made a big personal effort to make my presence felt even when I was not around.

For Quezon to suggest that Zubiri can win only through “last-minute miracles of a sinister sort” is tantamount to calling the Inquirer-SWS survey (in which Zubiri ranked 9th) a sham, the Pulse-Asia poll (in which Zubiri landed 10th-18th) rigged, the radio dzRH results (in which Zubiri is 10th) a lie, Namfrel’s count (in which Zubiri is bouncing between 10 and 13) a quack, and ABS-CBN’s exit poll (which showed Zubiri in 8th-12th) a mere PR job.

We are ready to dialogue with Quezon if he so wishes.

JUAN MIGUEL F. ZUBIRI, G/F PetPlans Tower, Edsa, Makati City

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