Villar, Poe, Cayetano lead pre-poll survey

BY CATHERINE S. VALENTE

THREE women, two of them endorsed by the Duterte administration, topped the pre-election survey of Pulse Asia.

Sen. Cynthia Villar, who got 51.7 percent voter preference, led the poll, edging out perennial survey topnotcher Sen. Mary Grace Poe. Poe, with 47.7 voter preference, occupied second to third places. The two senators shared the lead in the survey conducted by Pulse Asia from April 10 to 14. Trailing Poe is Taguig City Rep. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano, a former senator, whose 45 percent placed her in second to fourth places. President Rodrigo Duterte’s top aide, Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, who was previously in the fourth to eighth bracket, jumped to the third to seventh place after acquiring 42 percent voter preference. Former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. secured 39.5 percent, giving him a statistical ranking of fourth to eighth places. Sharing fourth to ninth places are former senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid and former Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa with 38.5 percent and 37.9 percent voter preferences, respectively. Last month, Lapid ranked third to fourth, while de la Rosa placed fifth to ninth. Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, who previously ranked fourth to ninth, now placed fifth to 10th, after getting 36.3 percent voter preference. Completing the list of probable winners are Ilocos Norte Gov. Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos (34.1 percent, sixth to 14th places), Sen. Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay (32.8 percent, eighth to 15th places), Sen. Aquilino Pimentel 3rd (31.7 percent, ninth to 15th places), Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito (31.2 percent, ninth to 15th places), former senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada (30.8 percent, ninth to 15th places), Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino 4th (30.6 percent, ninth to 15th places), and former Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Francis Tolentino (28.9 percent, 10th to 15th places). The survey was conducted from May 3 to 6 among 1,800 respondents nationwide. Pulse Asia said 15 of the 62 official candidates for senator would have a “statistical” chance of winning. Most of the probable winners are either current or former members of Congress. Among those with a statistical chance of winning, 11 belong to the administration-backed Hugpong ng Pagbabago coalition, one is running as an independent candidate. The Nationalist People’s Coalition, United Nationalist Alliance and Liberal Party each had candidate in the winners’ circle. Go welcomed the survey results and attributed his strong showing to the endorsement of President Duterte and the support of Filipinos. “Maraming salamat po sa mga kapwa ko Pilipino sa inyong pagtitiwala sa aking kakayahan at hangarin na isulong ang mga pagbabagong nasimulan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte (I would like to thank my fellow Filipinos for your trust in my capability and my desire to continue the changes that President Rodrigo Duterte started),” he said. Go also thanked the Iglesia ni Cristo, El Shaddai, Muslim leaders, the Independent Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Jesus is Lord Church, the Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ and seventh Day Adventist leaders for their prayers. “Baguhan pa lang po ako at medyo kinakabahan. Pero dahil sa mainit na suporta ng ating mga kababayan ay nakakataba ng puso at nagpapalakas ng aking loob (I am a neophyte and I’m a bit nervous but the outpouring of support boosts my confidence),” he said, adding that he has placed his fate in God’s hands. The Pulse Asia survey found that registered voters identified a mean of eight and a median of eight out of a maximum of 12 Senate candidates. “Across geographic areas and socio-economic classes, mean figures vary from seven to nine while median figures range from 9 to 11,” the pollster said. Pulse Asia said that a little over a third of registered voters or 36 percent have a complete Senate slate. Across geographic areas, the percentages of voters who have 12 favored Senate candidates range from 30 percent in the rest of Luzon to 49 percent in Mindanao. In socioeconomic groupings, figures vary only from 35 percent in Class D or the masa to 41 percent in the poorest Class E. The survey, conducted using face-to-face interviews, had a +/- 2.3 percent error margin at 95 percent confidence level.