First Posted 04:48:00 11/17/2009
Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Opinion surveys, Benigno Aquino III
MANILA, Philippines—The Aquino-Roxas tandem of the Liberal Party would have emerged victorious if the national elections were held last month, a Pulse Asia survey showed.Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III led all potential presidential aspirants by a wide margin, with 44 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him.
He was followed by Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. with 19 percent, down from 25 percent in August.
Reached for comment, Aquino said he was elated by the survey results “especially given the fact that we have been stressing that this is a people’s campaign.”
“If we continue to fight based on issues and not on personalities, and based on the need to right the wrong, then our supporters are assured that we will serve as instruments for these objectives,” he said in Filipino.
From Oct. 22 to 30, Pulse Asia asked 1,800 voting-age respondents all over the country to select their presidential and vice presidential preferences from a list. The survey had an error margin of plus-or-minus 2 percentage points.
It was Aquino’s first time to be included in Pulse Asia’s survey on voter preferences, having announced his intention to run only early September following an outpouring of sympathy and support for his mother, former President Corazon Aquino, who died in August.
“With Senator Aquino joining the presidential race, the other personalities who used to be in the lead experienced a decline in their voter preferences,” Ana Maria Tabunda, chief research fellow of the private polling firm Pulse Asia, Monday said in a statement.
Tabunda said the reason most often cited in expressing a voting preference for a possible presidential candidate was the candidate’s clean public record, or alternatively, not being corrupt.
Escudero, Estrada, Teodoro
Trailing Aquino and Villar were Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero (13 percent, up 1 point), deposed President Joseph Estrada (11 percent, down 8 points), and Vice President Noli de Castro (4 percent, down 12 points).
The administration party’s standard-bearer, resigned Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., had a marginal improvement, from zero to 2 percent.
Chair Bayani Fernando of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Bro. Eddie Villanueva still had 1 percent each.
Aquino also dominated in all geographic areas and socioeconomic classes (from 41 percent in Mindanao and Luzon outside Metro Manila to 53 percent in the Visayas).
Roxas also leading
Aquino’s running mate, Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, was chosen by 37 percent of the respondents.
In the vice presidential race, Sen. Loren Legarda was in second place (23 percent, up 4 points), followed by Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay (13 percent, up 1 point) and De Castro (11 percent, down 4 points).
Roxas, who had been vocal about his presidential ambition, was not included in previous surveys on vice presidential preferences. He gave way to Aquino in September.
Also on the list of potential vice presidential candidates were Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. (4 percent each), and Fernando, Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno (1 percent each).
Senatorial race
Actor-TV host Edu Manzano, who was named Teodoro’s running mate only last week, was not on the list.
Four percent of respondents did not have a favored presidential or vice-presidential candidate.
Senator Estrada would have topped the senatorial race (46.7 percent) if elections were held last month.
Others with a big chance of winning were Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago (42.4 percent), former Senate President Franklin Drilon (38.6 percent), Sen. Pia Cayetano (37.2 percent) and Revilla (36.6 percent).
Binay (36.6 percent), Roxas (36.3 percent), Sen. Jamby Madrigal (31.6 percent), Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III (31.4 percent), former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto (30.6 percent), former Senators Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III (28.5 percent) and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (28.2 percent), TV host Willie Revillame (27.4 percent), and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (26.6 percent).
Teodoro optimistic
Respondents were asked to select up to 12 senatorial preferences from a list.
Official campaigning for the May elections has not started and the filing of candidacy is from Nov. 20 to Dec. 1.
Teodoro said he was not bothered by the survey results because his ranking would continue to improve in the coming days since he would have more time to introduce himself to the people.
He Monday relinquished his post as defense secretary to prepare for his presidential candidacy in the 2010 elections.
Last week, the Lakas-Kampi-CMD coalition picked Manzano as its vice presidential candidate in an apparent move to boost Teodoro’s popularity.
Teodoro had attributed his lack of mass appeal and poor performance in opinion polls to his job as the defense chief, which entailed “a lot of silence.”
“Now I can focus on this issue, get more exposure and travel [around the country],” he said. Reports from Cyril L. Bonabente, Inquirer Research, Christine Avendaño and Jocelyn R. Uy, Reuters and Associated Press
Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20091117-236712/Aquino-still-overwhelming-favoritePulse-Asia
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