Marcos leads Pulse poll; Robredo at 20%

Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio (INQUIRER.net file photos)

Pulse Asia’s latest Ulat ng Bayan survey showed former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (BBM), the son and namesake of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, as the top choice of polled voters.

The nationwide survey was conducted from Dec. 1 to Dec. 6 and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2 percentage points.

From a list of eight names, 53 percent of the 2,400 respondents chose Marcos for president, while 20 percent picked Vice President Leni Robredo.

In the vice presidential race in 2016, Marcos lost to Robredo who won by only 263,473 votes. Claiming he was cheated in the elections, he filed an electoral protest which the Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, dismissed in February this year.

Across all areas

The Pulse Asia survey showed Marcos garnering the support of the majority, ranging from 51 percent to 64 percent, across all areas and socioeconomic levels, except in the Visayas region and Class E where he got the “plurality” voter preference of 42 percent and 49 percent, respectively.

Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso was the choice for president of 8 percent of the respondents, followed by Sen. Manny Pacquiao also with 8 percent and Sen. Panfilo Lacson with 6 percent.

Retired Army Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict spokesperson, labor leader Leody de Guzman and former Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales were preferred by less than 1 percent of the respondents.

For the vice presidential race, Duterte got a 45-percent voter preference, followed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III with 31 percent, Sen. Francis Pangilinan with 12 percent and Dr. Willie Ong with 6 percent.

Former Manila Mayor and House Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza got 1 percent, while Laban ng Masa chair and former Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello got less than 1 percent.

Results of the senatorial survey showed Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano with a 64.1-percent voter preference, ahead of 13 candidates with a statistical chance of winning a Senate seat.

These were broadcaster Erwin Tulfo with 60 percent; House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, 58.7 percent; Sorsogon Gov. Francis Escudero, 53.9 percent; Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, 51.3 percent; Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, 49.4 percent; former Vice President Jejomar Binay, 44.7 percent; Sen. Joel Villanueva, 41.6 percent; Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, 40.1 percent; President Duterte, 35.8 percent; actor Robin Padilla, 35.6 percent; Sen. Risa Hontiveros, 35.5 percent; former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, 34.4 percent; and former Sen. JV Ejercito, 32.1 percent.

Grateful

Marcos’ spokesperson Victor Rodriguez said that while the tandem was grateful for the people’s trust and support, both asked their supporters to continue organizing.

“Our appeal to the millions who love and support the BBM-Sara Uniteam is to continue our good actions, our good work. Let’s keep on organizing, Let’s keep on moving forward, moving ahead, as we head on to the campaign proper,” he said.

For Robredo’s camp, the election was turning out to be a contest between her and Marcos.

Still, her spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, was confident she could still win as the latest survey showed her climbing by 12 points—double her results in the previous poll.

This was a “definitive affirmation of the energy and momentum of the people’s campaign that emerged following her declaration of candidacy on Oct. 7,” Gutierrez said. —WITH REPORTS FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA AND KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING