THE young people again proved to be allies of Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago after she continued to widen her lead in the presidential and vice presidential surveys in the official fan page of the state-run Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
In the university-led online poll, Santiago, who filed her candidacy for President on Oct. 16, received 71.3 percent of the 80,000 votes cast.
She was the top choice in the online poll among the presidential aspirants in the May 2016 elections.
Santiago recalled that when she ran for President in 1992, her campaign was fueled by the hopes and dreams of the young Filipinos who wanted reform.
“This survey shows that I can replicate that in 2016,” said Santiago who fulfilled her promise of seeking the presidency once she was cured of cancer.
In July last year Santiago said she was diagnosed with Stage-4 lung cancer, but months later she was able to recover from the ailment.
Santiago’s rivals in the presidential contest lagged behind in the PUP poll, with Senator Grace Poe garnering only 12.4 percent of the total votes, former Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II 11.9 percent, and Vice President Jejomar Binay 3.2 percent.
The survey was launched on Oct. 19, three days after the deadline for candidates to file their Certificates of Candidacy with the Commission on Elections. Santiago was the last to file her candidacy among the presidential aspirants.
Santiago’s lead in the online poll comes after her surprise entry into the 2016 presidential race, which analysts had initially expected to be a three-way fight between Binay, Poe and Roxas.
“The Internet has radically revolutionized the way young people think and how they affect their own families—their parents, their siblings and the people who live with them,” Santiago said.