MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay remain neck-and-neck in the race for the presidency, according to the latest nationwide survey conducted by Pulse Asia.
Poe and Binay are “statistically” tied for first, garnering scores of 26 percent and 25 percent, respectively, Pulse Asia said in its poll taken from Feb. 15 to 20.
Poe, an independent candidate, suffered a four-point drop from 30 percent in January, while Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) gained two points.
Close behind them are Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas, who obtained 21 percent each.
Support for Duterte, standard-bearer of PDP-Laban, and Roxas improved by a point from 20 percent in January.
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, candidate of the People’s Reform Party, obtained three percent voter preference from four percent previously.
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Poe continued to lead presidential surveys despite facing disqualification cases involving citizenship and residency issues.
The Supreme Court (SC) is set to hold a special full session next week to resolve the disqualification case of Poe.
Chiz, Bongbong statistically tied
In the vice presidential race, Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. are statistically tied for first place, the same Pulse Asia survey showed.
Escudero, runningmate of Poe, received 29 percent voter preference from 33 percent while Marcos, runningmate of Santiago, obtained 26 percent from 23 percent.
LP vice presidential bet Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo occupied the third slot with 19 percent (from 18 percent), followed by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, runningmate of Duterte, with 12 percent (from 14 percent).
Single-digit voter preferences were registered by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who is running as an independent, and UNA vice presidential candidate Sen. Gregorio Honasan with six percent and four percent, respectively.
Trillanes saw his rating improve by two points, while Honasan suffered a one-point decline.
To each his own territory
Binay is the leading presidential bet in Metro Manila with 33 percent, followed by Poe and Duterte with 23 percent each.
Like in Metro Manila, those in the rest of Luzon are most supportive of the presidential bids of Poe (33 percent) and Binay (29 percent).
Meanwhile, Roxas topped the presidential race in the Visayas (35 percent). Roxas’ family hails from Capiz.
In Mindanao, Duterte enjoyed the lead, getting the support of 45 percent of voters.
In Classes ABC and D, basically or exactly the same voter preferences were posted by Poe (both at 25 percent), Roxas (25 percent and 21 percent, respectively), Duterte (24 percent and 22 percent, respectively) and Binay (14 percent and 25 percent, respectively).
As for those in Class E, they are most inclined to vote for either Binay (31 percent) or Poe (28 percent) as the country’s next president, Pulse Asia said.
During the period January to February 2016, levels of support for the presidential bids of these candidates remained generally constant – both at the national level and across geographic areas and socio-economic classes, Pulse Asia noted.
The only significant movement at this time, it said, is the seven-point decline in the level of support enjoyed by Poe in the most numerous Class D.
The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,800 registered voters 18 years old and above, with biometrics. It has a plus or minus two percentage points error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.
Meanwhile, for the vice presidential race, Escudero and Marcos shared the lead in Metro Manila, 35 percent and 34 percent, respectively; the rest of Luzon, 31 percent and 32 percent, respectively; and Class D, 30 percent and 26 percent, respectively, Pulse Asia said.
Escudero and Robredo are the top vice presidential bets in the Visayas, garnering 29 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
Mindanaoans are most inclined to support Escudero (22 percent), Cayetano (22 percent), Marcos (19 percent) and Robredo (16 percent).
In Class ABC, Marcos enjoyed the lead (44 percent) while in the poorest Class E, Escudero is the top vice presidential candidate (32 percent).
Pulse Asia noted that there were no significant changes in the voter preferences of these vice presidential candidates between January and February 2016.
“This observation holds true at the national level and in the different geographic areas and socio-economic classes,” it said.
“Even the double-digit changes in the voter preferences of Escudero and Marcos in Class ABC (-12 and 16 percentage points, respectively) are considered marginal as they fall within the relevant error margin for this survey subgrouping,” the pollster said.
Deeply grateful
Poe yesterday admitted being elated by the people’s unwavering support amid what she described as massive attacks against her.
She said she was deeply grateful, adding that surveys serve as their guide in mapping out a winning strategy.
Poe has likened her campaign to a roller coaster ride from the time she declared her presidential bid last year.
She said she hopes that the SC would soon rule on the disqualification cases filed against her.
Proof of trust
Binay also expressed gratitude for the continued support of Filipinos to his candidacy.
He said that the latest survey shows that his countrymen believe he should become the next president.
On the other hand, UNA’s campaign spokesman Rico Quicho said that with every rise in his survey ratings, they expect the demolition job against Binay to intensify.
Non-reflective survey
Peter Laviña, spokesman for Duterte’s camp, said the results of the latest Pulse Asia survey do not reflect the real sentiments of the public.
But Laviña said they are inspired to work harder on the ground.
“We are heartened and inspired by the positive and overwhelming response from the people since we hit the campaign trail. We have seen our numbers steadily advancing overall,” he said.
Laviña said their camp has recognized Duterte’s strong and weak points.
“The elections are still a good two months away and we have plenty of time to move up. We will remain vigilant and will continue to work very hard for the victory of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the May 2016 presidential elections,” he added.
Steady rise for Mar
The administration coalition remains confident that Roxas, its standard-bearer, will emerge victorious in the upcoming polls despite being a laggard in pre-election surveys.
Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid spokesman and Akbayan Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez insisted that the presidential candidates are still in for a “tight race.”
“What is clear from the latest Pulse survey is that this is still a tight race. Mar’s numbers have gone up slightly, and we are grateful to our supporters who worked hard to make this possible,” Gutierrez said.
“We’ve said from the start that slow and steady will win the race, and the latest poll numbers support this. Mar’s steady rise through the past months give us firm confidence that we are on track to top the one survey that truly matters: the elections on May 9,” he added.
All for unity
For his part, Marcos said his latest rating in the Pulse Asia survey is a reflection of the people’s clamor for national unity which he is advocating.
He said it also shows that the public wants genuine change.
“We will strive harder to deliver our message to our countrymen, especially our less fortunate brothers and sisters,” Marcos said in a statement.
Scary situation
Robredo, meanwhile, stepped up her offensive against Marcos, her closest rival, as her ratings improved based on Pulse Asia’s newest survey.
Robredo reminded voters of the dark days of martial rule under Marcos’ father, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.
“We’re in a scary situation because if you are offering yourself (as vice president) to our countrymen, are you saying that you want the people to just forget our dark past, and make them believe that martial law was not bad?” Robredo asked.
– With Christina Mendez, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Alexis Romero, Perseus Echeminada, Edith Regalado, Paolo Romero
