Ad-driven race
Poll: Contest for Senate shaken up by airtime buys
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For the survey period of Feb. 24 to March 1, Laylo said television advertisements, in particular, played a huge role in the ranking of the senatorial aspirants. “The ranking changes almost every week such that any survey will reflect the sentiment of the voters depending on the volume of political ads that they watched within the week that the survey was conducted,” Laylo added. Re-electionist Senator Vicente Sotto III retained his lead with 50 percent of the respondents saying they will vote for him if the elections were held today. Former senator Francis Pangilinan, who placed fourth in January, was now tied in second place with re-electionist Senator Ralph Recto with 43 percent each, followed by former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros who went up from sixth place to fourth with 39 percent. Among the candidates who made it to the top 12, the biggest gainers were Romualdez, who shot up from 16th place to 10th with 31 percent; Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, who jumped to fifth place with 37 percent from 10th place in January; and Villanueva, who, from 13th place, is now tied with re-electionist Senator Franklin Drilon at seventh to eighth place with 36 percent. Drilon, however, was the biggest loser, dropping six notches from second place in January. Gordon, who was in 15th place in the previous survey, is now tied at the 11th to 14th place with former Justice secretary Leila de Lima, re-electionist Senator Teofisto Guingona III and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao with 30 percent each. In the National Capital Region, where most candidates spread most of their television advertisements, the three new candidates who made it to the Magic 12 were actually ranked higher: Gordon is ranked fifth with 46 percent, Villanueva at the eight spot with 41 percent, and Romualdez securing the ninth place with 40 percent. The survey has a national margin of error of +/- 1.8 percent, with 3,000 respondents—all of whom are registered voters with biometrics and who said they are sure to vote in the May elections—from 79 provinces and 40 highly urbanized cities across the country and the 17 cities in the National Capital Region. Presidential candidate Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago on Wednesday said the “scandalous” amounts being spent by her rivals should prompt graft and corruption investigations. Santiago, author of the proposed Anti-Premature Campaigning Law, questioned how other presidential aspirants can afford to spend way beyond the wealth declared in their statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth for their campaign. “They spent at least five times the net worth they have declared for ads. One candidate even spent by 17 times his net worth,” Santiago said. “Where did they get the money?”