Marcos rating up to 64%, Leni at 21%
Presidential survey frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has sustained a seemingly insurmountable lead in voter preference ahead of the May 9 elections, as his rating climbed to 64 percent according to the latest Laylo Research pre-election survey results conducted from April 14 to 20 and released on Wednesday.
With similar upward trajectories in previous surveys conducted by the polling firms Pulse Asia, OCTA Research, Social Weather Stations, and Publicus over the last two months, Marcos could even breach the 70-percent preference level when Filipinos troop to the polls in 12 days, his camp said Wednesday in a statement.
Meanwhile, the UniTeam of Marcos Jr. and running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte took Cagayan de Oro City by storm Tuesday night, producing another grand rally that attracted tens of thousands of supporters.
Mammoth crowds such as the one seen at the Pelaez Sports Complex in the “City of Golden Friendship” in Misamis Oriental province have become commonplace for the UniTeam with only 10 days left in the official campaign period.
Yet Marcos and Duterte continue to match the enthusiasm of the people “by interacting with them more,” their camps said in a joint statement.
The latest Laylo Research survey shows Marcos gaining three percentage points from his March performance of 61 percent, giving him a 43-point lead over his nearest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, who garnered 21 percent voter preference.
They were followed by Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso and Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who are tied for third place with 5 percent each, and Sen. Ping Lacson at fourth place with 2 percent.
The national survey of 3,000 likely voters was conducted from April 14 to 20, 2022, the Marcos camp said. Laylo Research had not officially released a statement on the poll, but its results were already posted on several Facebook pages by Tuesday night.
The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas standard-bearer also continues to dominate in all the major voting areas, with 62 percent voter preference in the National Capital Region (NCR), 80 percent in North Central Luzon (NCL), 46 percent in South Luzon (SL) and Bicol, 57 percent in the Visayas, and 75 percent in Mindanao.
The Laylo survey results reinforced the observations made by political pundits that Marcos’ numbers are continuing to firm up as elections near.
This means that the majority of Marcos’ possible voters have made up their minds and are not likely to switch “despite the barrage of negative propaganda directed against the candidate,” their camp said.
In the survey results released by PUBLiCUS Asia on Tuesday, Marcos’ firm voters rose by 10 percent, from 70 percent in February to 80 percent this April.
PUBLiCUS Asia’s chief data scientist Dr. David B. Yap Jr. said the increase in vote firmness means voters became more committed to their chosen candidate.
Yap said the withdrawal of any candidate—proposed during the joint Easter Sunday press conference of Domagoso, Lacson, and former National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales—would not influence the survey rankings, as none of the remaining hopefuls would see significant changes in their numbers.
Last week, the Tugon ng Masa Survey conducted by OCTA Research from April 2 to 6 saw Marcos garner a 57-percent preference out of the 1,200 polled, 2 percent higher than his total in the same poll firm’s February 12-to-17 survey.
Robredo was second in the OCTA poll with 22 percent, a jump of 7 points from the 15 percent she received last February.
In the Pulse Asia survey conducted March 17 to 21 but with results released April 6, Marcos’ preference number went down to 56 percent from 60 percent in February, with Robredo gaining 24 percent from 15 percent in February.
An SWS survey from January 28 to 31 showed Marcos cornered 50 percent of the preference vote, followed by Robredo at 19 percent and Moreno and Pacquiao tied at 11 percent, with Lacson at just 6 percent.
In Cagayan de Oro, Marcos and Duterte personally handled and showed off the pictures and posters that some of the attendees near the stage brought to the rally—something the tandem began to do during the massive rally in Cebu that drew an estimated 300,000 people.
The lady Davao mayor and the former senator kept some of the posters as sort of souvenirs, much to the delight of those that made them.
Marcos, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer, and Duterte, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) and Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) chairperson, are the runaway leaders in various surveys for the presidency and vice presidency, respectively.
In her speech, the presidential daughter said she felt she would surely win come election day on May 9 after seeing and feeling the warm reception of “CdO” residents.
With the national and local polls just around the corner, Duterte once again reminded voters to bring sample ballots with them when they troop to the polling precincts.
These will serve as a guide for the voters to nail down every candidate under the UniTeam ticket, particularly the 12 senatorial candidates.
Aside from unity, the UniTeam duo are also running on the platform of recovery from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.