Sen. Grace Poe. INQUIRER.NET / CATHY MIRANDA
MANILA, Philippines — While reelectionist Senator Grace Poe continued her lead in the pre-election surveys, former police chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa failed to land in the so-called “Magic 12” of a new commissioned poll of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
In the SWS survey conducted from January 23-26, 2019, Poe garnered 64 percent of voter preference, followed by Senator Cynthia Villar with 57 percent voter preference.
Completing the Magic 12 are former Senator Lito Lapid at 3rd spot with 44 percent voter preference, and former Taguig Representative Pia Cayetano with 43 percent.
Former Presidential aide Bong Go and reeelectionist Senator Sonny Angara tied at the 5th and 6th spot with a voter preference of 41 percent.
It was the first time that Go was included in the winning circle.
Senator Nancy Binay placed 7th with 39 percent, while former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and former senator Bong Revilla were tied at the 8th and 9th spot with a voter preference of 38 percent.
Reelectionist senators Koko Pimentel with 36 percent and Bam Aquino with 33 percent placed 10th and 11th place respectively, while former Senator Jinggoy Estrada landed at the 12th place with a voter preference of 31 percent.
Dela Rosa, however, dropped from the top 12 as he was ranked at the 13th spot with 29 percent voter preference.
Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos also fell from the winning circle as she landed at the 14th spot with a 28 percent voter preference.
The survey, a copy of which was obtained by some reporters, was commissioned by a certain Jess Abalos.
Aquino, who broke into the Magic 12, thanked his supporters for his improvement in the latest SWS survey.
In a previous SWS senatorial poll, Aquino dropped out of the top 12 and tied with former Senator Serge Osmeña at the 13th and 14th places.
READ: Villar, Poe lead latest SWS Senate race survey
At the same time, Aquino reminded the public to scrutinize the track record and accomplishments of all the candidates to be able to vote for the right one in the upcoming midterm elections.
“Mahalagang suriin ng ating mga botante ang mga nagawa ng isang kandidato upang mapili nila ang tamang tao na titingin sa kanilang kapakanan,” he said in a statement on Friday. /je