DAYS before he said he was furious at inmates who raped an attractive Australian missionary in 1989 because they beat him to the punch, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte continued to hold the lead in the latest Pulse Asia Research Inc. survey sponsored by ABS-CBN.
The survey of 4,000 registered voters, conducted from April 5 to 10, showed Duterte ahead with 32 percent of the vote, seven percentage points ahead of Senator Grace Poe, who had 25 percent.
Vice President Jejomar Binay and administration candidate Manuel Roxas II shared third place with 20 percent and 18 percent, respectively.
Only one percent of respondents said they would vote for Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, while four percent said they did not favor any presidential bet.
The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percent on the national level.
Duterte had the lead in Mindanao (58 percent) and all socio-economic classes (31 percent to 37 percent).
Three candidates shared the lead in Metro Manila—Duterte, 32 percent; Poe, 32 percent; and Binay, 23 percent.
In the rest of Luzon, Poe was ahead with 33 percent.
Roxas retained his lead in the Visayas with 35 percent.
The largest number of voters (29 percent) said they would vote for Poe if their top choice for president left the race.
Binay, Duterte and Roxas came next as the second choice preference among 17 percent, 16 percent, and 14 percent of the voters, respectively.
Some 6 percent named Santiago as their second choice.
At the national level, 18 percent of voters do not have an alternative presidential candidate. Levels of non-support vary from 14 percent to 20 percent across geographic areas and from 12 percent to 21 percent in the different socio-economic classes.
Four in 10 voters of Duterte would throw their support behind Poe if the mayor drops out of the race.
Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. continued to lead the vice presidential race with 27 percent, followed by Senator Francis Escudero, with 23 percent.
Administration bet Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo had 21 percent, followed by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (17 percent), Senator Gregorio Honasan II (4 percent), and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (3 percent).
Only 4 percent of registered voters said they would not vote for any of these candidates.
Marcos was the leading choice in Metro Manila (40 percent), the rest of Luzon (35 percent), Class ABC (43 percent) and Class D (28 percent).
Robredo was the top pick of Visayan voters (35 percent) while Cayetano led in Mindanao (32 percent).
Voters were naming an average of seven out of the 50 senatorial bets, 13 of whom were likely to be winners. Only one in three voters picked a complete slate of 12.
Five of the 13 probable winners came from the Liberal Party, four were running as independent candidates, two were members of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, one each went to the United Nationalist Alliance and Akbayan.
Practically all of the probable winners, with the exception of former Justice secretary Leila M. de Lima, have served before as members of Congress.
In the lead was Senate President Franklin M. Drilon whose overall voter preference of 51.6 percent translates to a statistical ranking of 1st to 2nd place.
Close behind are Senator Vicente Sotto III (49.8 percent) who is ranked 1st to 3rd and former Senator Francis Pangilinan (46.8 percent) who has a statistical ranking of 2nd to 3rd places.
Completing the list of probable winners were: former senator Panfilo M. Lacson (40.8 percent, 4th to 5th places); former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri (38.9 percent, 4th to 6th places); Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel Pacquiao (36.3 percent, 5th to 11th places); former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority director general Emmanuel Villanueva (35.6 percent, 6th to 11th places); Senator Ralph Recto (35.6 percent, 6th to 11th places); Senator Sergio Osmeña III (34.2 percent, 6th to 13th places); former senator Richard Gordon (33.8 percent, 6th to 13th places); former Akbayan Party-List Representative Risa Hontiveros (33.7 percent, 6th to 13th places); (9) former Justice secretary De Lima (32.3 percent, 9th to 13th places); and Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin T. Gatchalian (31.5 percent, 9th to 13th places).
Poe said she was confident voters would choose the right leader in the May 9 elections.
“I believe that on Election Day, the people will choose a leader who is humane and competent for the good of our country,” she said.
The Roxas camp said they remain hopeful that voters will soon realize that Duterte is not fit to rule the country after his rape joke.
“The survey was conducted before Mayor Duterte damned the memory of Jacqueline Hamill, a victim of rape in Davao City,” Roxas spokesman Barry Gutierrez said in a text message sent to The Standard.
