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MANILA, Philippines – Team PNoy candidates may have the upper hand in the latest Social Weather Stations [SWS] survey but the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) has all the reason to celebrate as its bet Nancy Binay shot up to the 3rd to 4th spot.
Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who is running under Team PNoy, on the other hand slid to the fifth place.
It was not the first time Escudero was pushed from second place but this time he was pushed out of the top three spots in the top 12.
The daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay and fellow senatorial race neophyte former Las Piñas Representative Cynthia Villar gained 49 percent and rose to 3rd-4th place from their earlier 5th-7th spot.
Meanwhile, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (52 percent) has once again secured the second spot, following Senator Loren Legarda [59 percent] who has kept a firm grip on first place.
Nine Team PNoy and three UNA bets made it to the Magic 12 in the survey conducted from April 13 to 15 with 1,800 respondents. The survey had a margin of error of +/-2 percent (+/-6 for Metro Manila, North/Central Luzon and Southern Luzon, +/-5 for Visayas, and +/-4 for Mindanao.)
The said survey was conducted in the wake of the controversial clash between Escudero and the parents of his girlfriend, actress Heart Evangelista.
Securing the top nine spots in the list – seven from the administration team and two opposition bets— were declared “safe” by the survey.
Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, cousin of President Benigno Aquino III, went up by four spots and secured 6th place with 44 percent.
Both re-electionist Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and San Juan Representative Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito Estrada shared the 7th-8th places with 43 percent each.
Pimentel used to be in the 5th-7th places but he dropped four points in the latest survey. Estrada’s score, meanwhile, dropped by five points.
Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara [42 percent] took the ninth spot, three spots higher from his earlier 12th place in the previous survey conducted by the same polling firm.
Taking the 10th-11th places were former Movie and Television Review and Classification Board chief Grace Poe-Llamanzares and re-electionist Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who had 39 percent each.
At the 12th-13th places are opposition candidates Cagayan Representative Juan Ponce “Jack” Enrile Jr. and re-electionist Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan who both received 37 percent.
Enrile rose from 13th-14th place last month but Honasan slipped from his earlier 9th spot.
Former senators Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri and Ramon “Jun” Magsaysay Jr. shared the 14th-15th places.
Poe, Trillanes, Enrile, Honasan, Zubiri and Magsaysay were vying for the last three spots in the Magic 12, according to the SWS.