Midway to the elections in May, “Otso Diretso” senatorial candidates have yet to make a headway based on the latest survey conducted by the oppositionist Magdalo group.
Even Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano failed to clinch a spot in the “Winning Circle” or Magic 12 as gleaned from the survey which the group commissioned.
Alejano is at dismal number 20, followed by former Assemblywoman Samira Gutoc at number 21.
Election lawyer Romy Macalintal advanced s to number 24 from number 27 in the last survey.
Former Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada posted at number 25, human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, 28; and former Supreme Court Associate Justice Pilo Hilbay, rose from number 35 to number 31, but that was hardly an improvement.
Magdalo chairman, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said the ratings of the other Otso Diretso candidates are continuously improving.
The survey showed that Senators Grace Poe and Cynthia Villar have remained frontrunning senatorial candidates.
Poe garnered 60.4 percent, with Villar at second with 50.8 percent, according to the survey conducted April 2 to 4, 2019.
Administration candidates like Bong Go surged to number three with 47.8 percent, followed by Lito Lapid at number four with 42.3 percent, and Pia Cayetano at number five with 40.4 percent.
The Magdalo in-house survey employed a multi-stage probability sampling design with face-to-face interviews of 3,000 respondents, equitably representing the voting population across the different regions of the country, and has a margin of error of 1.8 percent.
The respondents were given a list of all the senatorial candidates and were asked the question: “Kung ngayon gagawin ang eleksyon sa pagka-senador, sino sa mga sumusunod na kandidato ang inyong iboboto? Pumili hanggang 12 na kandidato.”
