SENATOR Grace Poe leads the latest survey of presidential hopefuls, with 26 percent of the respondents choosing her, Pulse Asia Research said Monday.
Second place was shared by Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II, with 20 percent; Vice President Jejomar Binay with 19 percent; and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte (16 percent).
The survey was conducted from Sept. 8 to 14, with a sample of 2,400 respondents, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent and a 95 percent confidence level.
The results showed Poe ahead of 11 other possible contenders for the presidency.
Only 3 percent said they were not inclined to vote for anyone on the survey list.
By geographical area, the leading choices for President in Metro Manila were Poe (26 percent); Binay (22 percent), and Duterte (21 percent).
In the rest of Luzon, the top contender for the post was Poe (31 percent).
Pulse Asia said Roxas was the choice for president by a sizable plurality of Visayans (34 percent).
Mindanaoans, on the other hand, were most supportive of Duterte (29 percent).
Across socio-economic classes, the most preferred presidential bets of those in Class ABC were Poe (22 percent), Roxas (22 percent), Duterte (20 percent), and Binay (17 percent).
Pulse Asia said, about a quarter of those in Class D (26 percent) expressed support for Poe’s presidential bid.
In Class E, the most favored candidates for President were Poe (25 percent), Binay (20 percent), and Roxas (20 percent).
For vice president, Poe and Senator Francis Escudero were statistically tied for first place (24 percent and 23 percent, respectively).
While 24 percent of Filipinos would elect Poe as vice president, 23 percent said they would support Escudero’s own vice presidential bid, Pulse Asia said.
The only other probable vice presidential candidate who registers a double-digit national voter preference is Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (13 percent).
Nine names were included in the vice presidential survey.
Three individuals shared the top spot in Metro Manila—Escudero (27 percent), Poe (21 percent), and Marcos (21 percent).
In the rest of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao, the leading contenders for the vice presidential post were Escudero (19 percent to 26 percent) and Poe (21percent to 28 percent).
In Class ABC, the most preferred vice presidential candidates were Poe (24 percent), Escudero (22 percent), Marcos (20 percent), and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (15 percent).
In Classes D and E, Poe and Escudero emerged as the frontrunners in the vice presidential race (23 percent to 26 percent and 21 percent to 24 percent, respectively).
Pulse Asia said Filipinos are now naming an average of 10 of their preferred candidates for the Senate and most of them already have a complete senatorial slate (64 percent).
Of the 50 individuals included in the senatorial survey, 14 have a statistical chance of winning—with Senator Vicente Sotto III landing in solo first place (63.6 percent).
About two in three Filipinos (64 percent) are already naming 12 preferred candidates for the senatorial elections in May 2016.
Former Senator Panfilo M. Lacson was in solo second place with an overall voter preference of 59.3 percent, while Marcos, Jr. was in third place with 54.9 percent.
Completing the list of probable winners are Senate President Franklin M. Drilon (48.2 percent, 4th to 6th places), Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis N. Pangilinan (46.6 percent, 4th to 6th places), Senator Ralph G. Recto (45.4 percent, 4th to 6th places), former Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri (41.4 percent, 7th to 9th places), Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao (39.6 percent, 7th to 11th places), Senator Sergio R. Osmeña III (38.7 percent, 7th to 13th places), former Senator Richard Gordon (36.8 percent, 8th to 14th places), Las Piñas City Representative Mark Villar (35.8 percent, 8th to 14th places), former Senator Jamby Madrigal (35.2 percent, 9th to 14th places), Justice Secretary Leila M. de Lima (35.2 percent, 9th to 14th places), and Taguig City Rep. Lino Edgardo S. Cayetano (34.2 percent, 10th to 15th places).
Pulse Asia said only 2.1 percent of Filipinos did not express support for any probable senatorial candidate in the May 2016 elections.
Poe said her 6 percent lead over Roxas was an indication that she should start going around the country to convey her platform of government.
“Perhaps, it also makes a difference that the survey was taken prior to my announcement,” said the senator, who announced she was running for president on Sept. 16.
“Again, I thank the Filipino people for their confidence. It is from them that I draw my strength,” said Poe. “More than just a measure of popularity, this is a reminder that we should always focus on performance and genuine service,” she added.
A spokesman for Binay, Rico Quicho, said the vice president was unfazed by the latest survey results, saying he would work doubly hard to regain his lead.
“The vice president will continue to talk directly with the people and work doubly hard to inform them of his track record of helping the poor and programs to bring more employment, quality education, accessible healthcare and reduction of poverty,” Quicho said in a statement.
Quicho said that the latest survey only shows that the people are still favoring for Binay even though he has not appeared in political advertisements like his opponents.
“The vice president is satisfied with the Pulse Asia results considering that he did not have any television advertisement running during the survey period. It showed us that we have a stable core of supporters,” Quicho said.
Drilon said the survey showed the race was a dead heat.
Administration allies in the House, Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone and Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas said they expect Roxas’ numbers to rise because the people have started to realize his capability as a leader after being endorsed by President Aquino. With Maricel V. Cruz, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Vito Barcelo
