Duterte ‘buoyed’ by gain in SWS poll; Roxas says he’s made progress

Presidential candidates on Monday expressed optimism following the release of the results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed that Vice President Jejomar Binay remains to be the most preferred presidential candidate but by a dipping margin.

The camp of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said that the tough-talking mayor’s four-point gain in the Feb. 5-7 SWS poll supposedly shows that the electorate is seeking “real change.”

The results of the February SWS poll showed Duterte and independent presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe tied at second place at 24 percent.

“We are hopeful that as the campaign progresses, we would be able to continue this upward trend and gain more supporters,” Duterte spokesperson Peter Laviña said in a statement.

“This is proof of the rising clamor for genuine change. Our country is mired in increasing drugs, crime, corruption and poverty,” he added.

On the other hand, the camp of administration bet Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said that despite the former Interior secretary’s current fourth place ranking, they are positive that his numbers will improve.

Daang Matuwid Coalition spokesperson and Akbayan Representative Barry Gutierrez said that with the survey’s three percent margin of error, Roxas—who posted 18 percent in the latest poll—should be in second place along with Duterte and Poe.

“We started out at 4 percent last year, now we’re tied with our rivals. We’ve definitely made progress,” Gutierrez said in a statement.

He said that with the tight race, the only poll that would matter to them is the May 9 elections.

“We’re confident that Mar’s numbers will continue to improve and that we will emerge on top in the most important survey—the May elections,” the lawmaker said.

Binay topped the survey with 29 percent, suffering a two-point slip from his rating last January.

Roxas also suffered a dip in his numbers: from January’s 21 percent, he only got 18 percent in the February poll.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago remains in last place with four percent of respondents choosing her as the country’s next president.

The survey was conducted with 1,200 validated voters as respondents and with sampling error margins of +/-3 percent.