MANILA, Philippines?Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III leads in the latest Pulse Asia pre-election survey with 45 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him as president if the elections were held today, according to the polling outfit.

Aquino was followed by Senator Manuel Villar (23 percent), Joseph Estrada (19 percent), Gilbert Teodoro (5 percent), Senator Richard Gordon (1 percent), and Eduardo Villanueva (1 percent), Pulse Asia said in a media release on Monday.

Senators Manuel Roxas and Loren Legarda are statistically tied in the survey of vice presidential preference at 39 percent and 37 percent, respectively, Pulse Asia said.

They were followed by Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay (14 percent), Bayani Fernando (2 percent), and Edu Manzano (2 percent).

The non-commissioned survey was conducted from December 8 to 10, 2009 using face-to-face interviews with 1,800 respondents nationwide. It has an error of margin of plus-minus 2 percent.