Former Sen. Francis Pangilinan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Former Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization and senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan has finally claimed the solo lead among the senatorial candidates, a position long held by now runner-up Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, the results of the latest ABS-CBN-commissioned Pulse Asia survey revealed.
Pangilinan ranked first with 53.1 percent of respondents throwing their support behind him. Sotto gained 48.9 percent, placing him in second to fourth place.
READ: Sotto, Pangilinan lead in SWS survey
Senate President Franklin Drilon clinched second to fifth place with 45.5 percent, followed by former Senator Panfilo Lacson with 45.1 percent and reelectionist Senator Ralph Recto with 42.5 percent.
The other candidates who have a statistical chance of winning are the following: former Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri (36.5 percent), Senator Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III (36.4 percent), former senator Richard “Dick” Gordon (34.8 percent), former party-list representative Risa Hontiveros (33.3 percent), Sarangani representative and boxer Manny Pacquiao (32.7 percent), former Justice secretary Leila de Lima (32.1 percent), former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) director Joel Villanueva (28 percent), Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona III (26.3 percent), and Valenzuela City representative Sherwin T. Gatchalian (25.6 percent).
Pulse Asia noted that with barely two months before the May 9 elections, Filipinos are naming an average of seven preferred candidates for the Senate.
About 32 percent of respondents already have a complete slate for the elections.
Meanwhile, about 1 in 10 respondents does not support any senatorial candidate.
The survey was conducted from March 1 to 6 with 2,600 respondents who are registered voters with biometrics. The poll has a ± 1.9 percent error margin at 95 percent confidence level. IDL