Mike Defensor has widened his lead over Joy Belmonte in the race for mayor of Quezon City, according to the results of the latest Pulso ng Bayan survey conducted by The Issues and Advocacy Center.
In the Dec. 13-19 survey, 51 percent of the city’s voters favored Defensor for mayor, with 32 percent going for Belmonte, and 15 percent still undecided.
In the previous Pulso ng Bayan survey done Sept. 27-Oct. 8, Defensor was preferred by 41 percent of voters while Belmonte was picked by 27 percent.
Quezon City is the country’s largest city in terms of assets, population, and voters.
In the city’s vice mayoralty race, 43 percent of the voters opted for Defensor’s running mate, former Rep. Winnie Castelo, while 22 percent chose Belmonte’s Gian Sotto.
The latest survey was conducted a week after former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio held a huge motorcade in Quezon City.
Defensor is the mayoralty candidate of the tandem of Marcos Jr., who is running for president, and Duterte-Carpio, who is gunning for the vice presidency.
Responding to the survey results, Castelo said: “There’s no question voters are embracing Mike as a dynamic leader and problem-solver who can get lot of good things done for the residents of Quezon City.”
As a Cabinet member during the Arroyo administration, Defensor held various portfolios – from Malacañang chief of staff to housing secretary.
“In our sorties, Mike has demonstrated the ability to understand and share the aspirations of voters for improved local governance and a better quality of life for every household,” Castelo said in a statement on Sunday.
“Of course we are also being buoyed by the fact that we have the support of the most popular presidential and vice presidential candidates,” Castelo said, referring to Marcos Jr. and Duterte-Carpio.
Meanwhile, in Quezon City’s congressional races, the survey results showed that Defensor’s allies – incumbent Representatives Anthony Peter “Onyx” Crisologo (first district), Precious Hipolito-Castelo (second district), and Allan Reyes (third district) – are bound to win fresh mandates from their constitutents.
Crisologo is favored by 46 percent of voters versus Arjo Atayde’s 23 percent. Hipolito-Castelo enjoys 43 percent voter support compared to Wendel Tulfo’s 25 percent.
Reyes is preferred by 41 percent of voters against Franz Pumaren’s 25 percent. In the fourth congressional district, Defensor’s candidate, Councilor Marvin Rillo, is in a virtual tie with reelectionist Rep. Jesus Suntay, with 36 percent and 39 percent voter support, respectively.
Suntay is the lone sitting congressman backing the Belmonte-Sotto tandem.
In the fifth district, Defensor supporter Rose Lin and rival Patrick Vargas are also locked in a close fight, at 31 percent and 33 percent voter support, respectively.
In the sixth district, another Defensor ally, former Rep. Vincent “Bingbong” Crisologo, has 43 percent voter support versus Marivic Co-Pilar’s 24 percent.
Quezon City had 1.33 million registered voters in the 2019 mid-term elections.
The Commission on Election has yet to announce the exact number of people registered to vote in Quezon City in the May 9 elections.
However, the poll body earlier reported that the total number of Filipinos registered to vote countrywide in the forthcoming polls increased by 6.3 percent to 61.84 million.
Assuming Quezon City’s registered voters increased at the same 6.3 percent rate, the city now has 1.41 million voters.