There are 8.27 million registered voters in provinces that speak the language

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday said defense chief and administration bet Gilbert Teodoro has an advantage over other presidential aspirants, even his cousin Benigno Aquino III—he speaks Ilocano fluently.

Enrile, himself an Ilocano and a former defense chief, said the regionalism of voters in several provinces might come into play when they hear a candidate speaking in their native tongue.

“I will not underestimate him…. Secretary Gilbert is the only one who can fluently speak Ilocano among these people who are running for president,” Enrile said in an interview, the transcript of which was distributed to media outlets.

“Ilocanos belong to a large portion of the population of the country. They’re all over the country. From Cagayan to Ilocos region, all the way to Mindanao, all the way to Mindoro,” Enrile said.

Enrile estimated the voters’ population in Ilocano speaking provinces to be between 5 million and 7 million.

A check with the updated figures with the National Statistics Coordination Board shows that as of this year, the 4 Ilocano-speaking regions—Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and Central Luzon (including only the largely Ilocano provinces of Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales)—have around 8.27 million registered voters.

The figure excludes those from Ilocano-speaking areas in Mindanao and Mindoro, as mentioned by Enrile.

CAR has 840,145 registered voters; Ilocos Region, 2.63 million; Cagayan Valley, 1.74 million; Nueva Ecija, 1.04 million; Pampanga, 1.08 million; Tarlac, 575,578; Zambales, 374,788.

Enrile said the vote of Tarlac, the home province of Teodoro and his rival second cousin Aquino, will be split between the 2.

He predicted that Teodoro will “get lots of votes in the area of Pangasinan” because traditionally “the Pangasinense would normally go…for the Ilocano candidate.”

Nueva Ecija, a vote-rich province, is a free zone among candidates, although former President Joseph Estrada is strong there, he said.

Enrile, who is from Cagayan, said he’s an Ilocano but he has his own candidate. He had said that if Estrada would be allowed to run for president again, he would support him. They are party mates in the Partido ng Masang Pilipino.

The Senate President said it’s not safe to conclude that Teodoro will lose because of his low survey ratings months away from the May 2010 elections. “Rating is an opinion at an instant of time.” —Miriam Grace A. Go, Newsbreak