SENATOR Grace Poe remained as the most preferred presidential candidate, according to the latest electoral survey released by Pulse Asia Research Inc.
In the survey conducted from Aug. 27 to Sept. 3, 27 percent of 1,200 respondents said they would vote for Poe if the presidential elections were held during the said time frame. This was three percent lower than the 30 percent she recorded in June.
The survey was conducted at the height of the Iglesia Ni Cristo protest actions in Manila and on Edsa, when Poe drew heavy criticisms from the public for airing statements siding with the influential religious sect.
Vice President Jejomar Binay ranked second with 21 percent, a point lower than the score he got in June.
Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, meanwhile, came in third with 18 percent, an eight-percent increase from his 10 percent in the previous poll result.
After declaring that he has no plans of running for president, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte slipped to fourth place but maintained his 15-percent score in June.
The question asked to respondents was: “Of the people on this list, whom would you vote for as President of the Philippines if the 2016 elections were held today and they were candidates. You may mention others not included on this list.”
Other personalities mentioned in the survey were Senator Bongbong Marcos (5 percent), Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada (5 percent), Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago (4 percent), Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (1 percent), and former Senator Panfilo Lacson (1 percent).
Poe also led Pulse Asia’s vice presidential poll with 26 percent, but was statistically tied with her running mate Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero who got 25 percent.
Escudero’s score was a 10-percent increase from the result he got in June.
Among other possible vice presidential bets named in the survey were Binay’s rumored running mate Marcos (7 percent), Roxas’ two vice presidential choices, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano (7 percent) and Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo (2 percent).
The survey, which was commissioned by ABS-CBN, has a plus-minus 3 percent margin of error. Yuji Vincent Gonzales
RELATED STORIES
SWS poll: Poe, Binay, Roxas in ‘statistical tie’
Poe, Binay, Roxas lead in newly released SWS survey