MANILA, Philippines?Liberal Party?s Senator Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III emerged on the top spot of the October 2009 Pulse Asia survey with the ?big lead? over other presidential hopefuls for next year?s elections.

The nationwide survey, conducted from October 22 to 30, was undertaken solely by Pulse Asia on the ?Filipinos? Presidential Preference for the May 2010 Elections.?

Forty-four percent of the respondents said they would elect Aquino as the next President if the May 2010 elections were held now. Following Aquino were Senator Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP) with 19 percent, Senator Francis G. Escudero with 13 percent, and former President Joseph Estrada with 11 percent.

The other presidential hopeful included in the survey registered at most 4 percent, including Vice President Noli De Castro who got 4 percent and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, standard-bearer of the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD, who got 2 percent.

Less than one in ten Filipinos (4 percent) does not have a favored presidential candidate at the moment, according to the survey.

Last month, Escudero resigned from the Nationalist People?s Coalition (NPC), but did not say if he is no longer seeking the presidency.

In expressing their voting preference, respondents cited the presidential hopefuls? clean public record (malinis) or alternatively, not being corrupt (hindi kurakot), according to the polling agency.

The survey, which had 1,800 respondents who are of voting age, was conducted through face-to-face interviews. It had a +/-2 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.

According to Pulse Asia, the following developments dominated the news headlines during the conduct of the survey: (1) the formal declaration of former President Joseph Estrada of his bid for the presidency in 2010 and questions raised regarding the legality of this bid; (2) Senator Loren Legarda?s declaration of her plans for the May 2010 elections and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo V. Puno?s withdrawal from the vice-presidential race; (3) Senator Francis G. Escudero?s departure from the Nationalist People?s Coalition (NPC);

(4) the continuing search for a running mate by both Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert C. Teodoro Jr. and Senator Manuel B. Villar Jr.; (4) the long lines of late registrants catching the last days of registration for the May 2010 elections; (5) the resignation of Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Hermogenes E. Ebdane Jr.; (6) continuing relief efforts in the aftermath of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, as well as the arrival of two new storms; and (7) the freeze on oil prices and other energy products, as well as basic commodities, imposed by the government.