Angara presses for changes in campaign strategy

Reelectionist Sen. Edgardo J. Angara said that Team Unity's campaign strategy needs improvement to enable senatorial candidates to cover more areas at less cost and shorter time.

He said that while the Team Unity campaign has been well-organized, this organization has hit some snags because of what he called "lack of knowledge of geography" by some campaign managers, and the failure to stick to schedules.

Angara, who is seeking his fourth term, said that he would raise his concerns in Monday's meeting of Team Unity candidates with campaign strategists.

He said that Team Unity has not encountered the problems of the Genuine Opposition which has been canceling a number of sorties for lack of funds and organization. He, however, said Team Unity still has to maximize this advantage in the ongoing campaign.

Angara, a veteran campaigner, noted some oversight by the campaign manager when he ordered candidates already in Leyte to proceed to Iloilo City instead of proceeding to the nearby Samar provinces.

He called this directive a "logistical horror" as the candidates and their staff still have to fly to Manila before they could reach Iloilo because there is no direct flight from Tacloban to Manila.

"We will be losing one day if we go to Iloilo, and time is of the essence here," he said.

Angara said the time would have been better spent had the campaign strategists included the Samar provinces, which adjoin Leyte, in the sorties.

"We are already in Leyte. All we have to do is cross the San Juanico bridge and we will already be in Samar," he said.

Angara, one of the most punctual among the candidates, said the campaign period could be more productive if sorties start at the scheduled time. He noted that candidates have to make a virtual whistle-stop in some scheduled pulong sulong to concentrate on bigger towns for lack of time.

The pulong sulong in Ormoc City proceeded without him Saturday because he had to return to Manila in the afternoon for the shooting of a political advertisement with singer Sarah Geronimo. The other candidates were late in their departure from Tacloban City for Ormoc. The pulong-sulong was further delayed when the candidates had a photo opportunity at a sugar mill near Ormoc. Angara feared that he would not be able to get his flight back to Manila and shoot the campaign ad if he had joined the delayed pulong sulong in Ormoc City.

"By and large, our campaign in Leyte was beautiful. Only one mayor in the entire province belongs to the opposition. We expect to win there," Angara predicted.