A clean, clear, conclusive victory is what President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo now wants.

"I need the highest mandate I can get under the most credible election process. I ask the people to give me this mandate and to see to it that the voting is clean, honest and orderly," the President said in a statement issued today.

The President also asked the people "to leave behind all partisan bickering and go for the big one – a new era in Philippine political and economic stability, borne by the dreams of the average Filipino, the respect of the world and our common fight for change and transformation."

Based on the latest survey, the President has a big chance of getting what she wants. The President got 36.9 percent that gives her a comfortable lead over action star Fernando Poe, Jr. who managed only 26.4.

The 10.5 percentage margin more than doubled the 4.5 percent difference (35.3 to 30.8) in the April 10-17 results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The latest survey (April 20-22) was taken by NFO Trends, the group that conducts the interviews for surveys designed by SWS and Pulse Asia. It was commissioned by the Manila Standard.

Clearly, NFO Trends results indicate the support for the President has started to snowball as Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan para sa Kinabukasan (K-4) spokesman Michael Defensor observed as early Friday when the SWS survey results came out. And indications are that there is no stopping it, much less reverse it.

"We now have a bandwagon of support for the President," Defensor said.

Defensor also stressed the K-4 objective now is to get the President, who shot up from a "statistical tie" with Poe in less than a month, elected by a majority of the electorate.

Philippine Star political columnist Alex Magno said President Macapagal-Arroyo is now unbeatable even if Poe and Sen. Panfilo Lacson merge forces as that would be too late with the elections only two weeks away.

Magno also cited the difficulties of unifying the Poe and Lacson forces and recruiting new strategists and leaders with time fast running out.

Lacson moved up to third over former senator and education secretary Raul Roco who had to leave in a hurry early in the month for medical tests in Houston, Texas. Lacson garnered 13.2 percent to Roco’s 8.9 while Bro. Eddie Villanueva got 5.2 percent.

"We don’t like FPJ anymore."

Thus declared this morning a large group of mass transport drivers and operators as they withdrew support from movie actor Fernando Poe Jr., standard-bearer of the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) and pledged to work for the victory of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the May 10 elections.

Ernesto de Guzman, chairman-president of the Tapat at Organisadong Drivers at Operators (TODO) para kay FPJ, said they were disheartened by the failure of Poe’s camp to deliver their promised support, including identification cards and other materials, as part of their efforts to help push the actor’s candidacy.

De Guzman’s federation now calls itself TODO na para kay GMA. He said TODO has some one million members nationwide, consisting of drivers and operators of tricycles, jeepneys, taxis and buses.

To dramatize their shift of political affiliation, leaders and key members of TODO tore down FPJ posters and streamers from their headquarters and its neighborhood, then replaced them with GMA campaign materials.

They also took off FPJ t-shirts and wore instead new GMA t-shirts provided by a group identified with the ruling Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan para sa Kinabukasan (K-4).

SAN MIGUEL, Isabela—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has said here that her administration has transformed Isabela into "a showcase of our agricultural modernization" that could be replicated in other regions of the country.

Speaking before a large crowd at the birthday celebration of Isabela Governor Faustino Dy Jr. in this town Sunday afternoon, the President said that Isabela is one of the provinces that has made good use of her administration’s "unprecedented P20 billion a year" program for agricultural modernization.

She said: "Our most important project for Isabela is the modernization of agriculture. The price of palay is good. The price of corn is good. The seeds are modern. The facilities are modern and that’s an example of what we like to do in the rest of the country."

The President pointed out that Isabela has become "a showcase of our agricultural modernization" as a result of "perfect partnership between the national government and the local government in agricultural modernization."

She said that the Department of Agriculture (DA) can only give the national policy but it is the local government units that really implement the policy.

The President, who barnstormed in Isabela with her vice presidential running mate Senator Noli "Kabayan" de Castro, noted that recovering quickly from the effects of a recent destructive typhoon, Isabela has produced bumper rice and corn, "two very important products for our country. "

She said that one of the centerpieces of her agricultural modernization program is the propagation of a high-yielding rice variety that she obtained from the People’s Republic of China during her state visit to Beijing in 2001.

The hybrid rice, now known as "Gloria Rice," was planted in some 35,000 hectares in 2002 and l00,000 hectares in 2003. "In 2004, we’re planting 500,000 hectares all over the country," she said. "The topnotcher is Isabela with 16,000 hectares."

"We are also into modernizing our corn production," she said, adding that "the price of corn has been going up for the good of our corn farmers."

She expressed confidence that the price of corn will further increase with the improvement of the quality of corn through modern post harvest facilities. She has presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of one of the four integrated corn-processing post-harvest facilities, each of which will cost about P120 million.

She is relentless in her efforts to relate with the people and earn the highest mandate.

So says Malacanang of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo even as the latest poll survey showed her with a now hefty 10.5-point percentage margin over her closest rival Fernando Poe, Jr. in a big surge from the previous poll.

The three surveys jive, the trend for the President continues to rise while those of the opposition continue to fall, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye observed in a radio interview this morning.

"This is a welcome development for our President but she is not letting up any in her efforts to get to the people. She continues to explain her platform, she continues to implement programs to uplift the lives of the people," Bunye said.

The survey, commissioned by the Manila Standard, has the President getting 36.9 percent of the vote against the 26.4 percent of Poe. It was conducted from April 20-22 by NFO Trends, the same group that does the same thing for the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia.

In the last Pulse Asia survey (March 27-April 4), the President had 34 percent to Poe’s 31 percent. The SWS survey (April 10-17) had the President improving to a significant 35.3 to 30.8 percent margin.

Thus it was a very busy schedule for the President last week that took her on a whirlwind tour all over the islands – Quezon, Laguna, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, Negros Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Davao and Isabela in that sequence.

She announced the expansion of her Botika sa Barangay in Lucban, Quezon; launched the Coco-Diesel Program in San Pablo,Laguna; laid the cornerstone for the Laoag (Ilocos Norte) International Airport; inaugurated a container terminal in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental; led in the groundbreaking of a P350 million Palm Oil Mill and Plantation in Impasugong, Bukidnon; dialogued with coconut growers in Davao City; and presided over the inauguration of the renovated district hospital in Cauayan, Isabela.

Representatives of various sectoral groups banded together today in a show of support for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s desire for a clean, honest and credible elections on May 10.

Eleven party list organizations likewise joined the growing bandwagon for the President and declared their support in her bid for a full six-year term in next month’s polls.

In their meeting with the President at the Malacanang’s Aguinaldo Room, the members of the civil society groups said they are basing their support on the President’s performance and platform, which they believe will be for the benefit of the majority of Filipinos.

"We saw that it’s only President Macapagal-Arroyo who is fighting terrorism while the other candidates are supported by terrorists," declared Bobby Navida and Jun Alcover of the Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD), a group composed mostly of former rebels.

Alyansa, a group made up mostly of fishermen, said they are supporting the President because "she’s the only one who issued an executive order giving us an opportunity to be represented at the Laguna Lake Development Authority."

"She’s the only President who appointed the most women in her Cabinet, provided micro finance for women, gave them health care benefits and passed two landmark laws against trafficking of women and violence to women," said Abanse Pinay representative Beth Yang.

The President thanked the sectoral representatives for their show of support and their commitment to clean, honest and credible elections.

"Thank you, thank you. Let us protect democracy together," she said.

llaying fears of electoral harassments in several areas by communist insurgents, the President said: "I can assure you PTC (permit to campaign) is not allowed. I have instructed the generals in the field not to allow them."

The sectoral representatives assured the President that their volunteers would watch the ballot not only for the sake of their groups but for the entire nation.

They said they would mobilize more watchers and report election-related violence in their respective turfs.

Among the party-list groups that declared their support for the President were Abanse-Pinay, Aksyon Sambayanan, TUCP, ABA-AKO, COOP-NATCCO, Butil, Buhay, Alyansa, ANAD, Akbayan and Elderly.

Malacanang today described as "insurmountable" President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s lead in the pre-election surveys, adding it is also an indication of the growing maturity of the Filipino electorate.

In the latest survey results released by the NFO Trends, the President mustered 36.9 percent, representing a hefty 10.5 percent margin over second running opposition bet Fernando Poe Jr. who got 26.4 percent.

K-4 campaign manager Secretary Gabriel Claudio noted that the significant decrease in the number of undecided voters was almost equal to the growth in the President’s acceptance rating.

"This could mean that the undecided sector are finally waking up to the fact that a continuation of the present administration would be the best choice for the country," Claudio said.

"Studies have shown that the people are now generally tired with bad news and negativism," Claudio added.

Claudio cited independent researches made by the Institute of Public Culture of the Ateneo University as reported by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism which showed that "the poor know what kind of leader they want."

"While President Arroyo is elated with her widening lead in the surveys, she knows she must work even harder for a decisive win and a clear mandate," Claudio noted. He added that the President continues to gain support as more people "come to grips with the realities of governing the country."

He said obtaining a majority vote would give the President "the high ground in calling for political and economic stability under a unity government."

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye also welcomed the NFO Trends findings, saying the trend now is for Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo to keep increasing her lead in the presidential race while Poe was dropping further behind.

Bunye pointed out, however, that despite her advantage, the President was not taking things in stride as she picks up momentum on the campaign trail, untiringly explaining to the people her platform of government for the next six years.

On the allegation by the opposition camps that fraud attended the NFO Trends survey, Bunye said the Palace "is not in any way involved in the conduct of these surveys."

He said Lacson’s allegation was just like any of his previous disclosures which were largely unsupported.

The latest survey, commissioned by the Manila Standard newspaper, covered 1, 200 voters interviewed on April 20 to 22 by NFO Trends, the same group being used by the prestigious Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Previous surveys conducted by the SWS and Pulse Asia showed Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo either slightly ahead or in a statistical tie with the movie actor.

In the April 10-17 SWS survey, the President chalked up a 4.5 percent lead, at 35.3 percent against Poe’s 30.8 percent.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, came in a poor third with 13.2 percent while Sen. Raul Roco had 8.9 percent. Spiritual leader Bro. Eddie Villanueva picked up the rear with 5.2 percent.

In the vice presidential derby, Sen. Noli "Kabayan" de Castro maintained a comfortable margin over Sen. Loren Legarda, running mate of Poe. De Castro had 47.6 percent against Legarda’s 35.5 percent, for a 12.1 percent advantage.

Hermie Aquino, teammate of Roco, was a far third with 3.6 percent.

In social class preferences, Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo garnered the highest number of votes from the Class C and D which gave her 39.3 percent and 39.8 percent, respectively. On the other hand, Poe got 17.6 percent from the Class C and 23.2 percent from Class D.

Class A and B were 28.8 percent for the President, and 12.7 percent for Poe.

In gender category, 40.9 percent of the women are for Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo, while 23.1 percent are for Poe. More male voters also want the President to have a fresh six-year mandate as they gave her 32.8 percent against Poe’s 29.8 percent.

Curiously, more than half of the women-voters want De Castro as the next vice president by giving him 50.9 percent approval rating, compared to Legarda’s 32.7 percent. On the other hand, 44.3 percent of the males are for De Castro while 38.4 percent are for Legarda.

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo gave her rivals a run for their money in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Northern Luzon and in the Visayas, but lost to Poe in Southern Luzon and Mindanao.