With a little over a month to go before the May 9 elections, presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. maintained his wide lead over other contenders for the top position, results of the recent Laylo national survey showed.
The Laylo Report, which was conducted from March 15 to 22, had 3,000 respondents and a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.
Marcos posted a 61 percent voters’ preference rating, two percentage points lower than his rating in February, but still a commanding 42 percentage point difference over his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, who got 19 percent.
Robredo’s rating was already up by 2 percentage points from the February Laylo survey.
Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso logged a 9 percent voter’s preference rating, followed by Sen. Manny Pacquiao at 6 percent and Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson at 2 percent.
At least two percent of the respondents said they were still undecided as to their choice for the presidential race.
In a press statement, the Marcos camp said the former senator was also the top choice among the presidential contenders in all regions, with provinces in the so-called Solid North delivering the highest voter’s preference rating: 86 percent in the Ilocos Region, 86 percent in the Cordillera Autonomous Region, 84 percent in Cagayan Valley, and 62 percent in Central Luzon.
Marcos also held a commanding lead across all classes: 58 percent voters’ preference rating in Classes ABC, 62 percent in Class D, and 58 percent in Class E.
Marcos’ spokesman Vic Rodriguez described the 61 percent voter’s preference rating as a “clear majority… founded on an equally high 53 percent trust rating.”
“Indeed, unity is what will hold our country together as we look ahead into the future of making us, Filipinos, world-class citizens with nation-building as our ultimate collective goal,” Rodriguez added.
The survey period already covered some of the most-attended campaign sorties of Robredo in Pasig City, Negros Occidental and Nueva Ecija.
By the estimate of the Vice President’s camp, over 130,000 supporters attended the rally in Pasig City, at least 86,000 in Negros Occidental, and more than 50,000 in Nueva Ecija.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV earlier predicted the succeeding surveys will reflect the massive turnout in the rallies for Robredo. “It’s a slow burn, and then it will suddenly surge,” he said.
The Laylo survey also asked respondents who among the presidential candidates can best continue the good things started by the Duterte administration. Marcos got 65 percent, followed by Robredo with 15 percent; Moreno and Pacquiao with 6 percent each; and Lacson with 4 percent.
In last month’s Pulse Asia survey, Marcos kept his lead, with 60 percent of the respondents saying they will vote for him.
As for the senatorial race, broadcaster Raffy Tulfo remained the top choice with 57 percent.
Former Public Works chief Mark Villar (44 percent) and former senators Alan Cayetano (42 percent) and Francis Escudero (41 percent) shared the second to fourth place.
Former senator Loren Legarda (37 percent), re-electionists Sherwin Gatchalian (37 percent), and Migz Zubiri (35 percent), as well as former Vice President Jejomar Binay (33 percent) were statistically tied, sharing the fifth to eighth slots.
Rounding up the top 15 were actor Robin Padilla (31 percent), former senators and brothers JV Ejercito and Jinggoy Estrada at 29 percent each, re-electionists Joel Villanueva (28 percent), Risa Hontiveros (25 percent) and Richard Gordon (23 percent), and former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista (21 percent).