Five candidates from the administration Liberal Party (LP) have secured spots in the “Magic 12” of probable senatorial race winners, according to the results of a survey conducted by ABS-CBN.
The five administration candidates among the top 12 are Senate President Franklin Drilon (47.6 percent in 1st to 2nd range), Francis Pangilinan (43.8 percent in 3rd), former Tesda chief Joel Villanueva (35.6 percent in 7th to 12th), reelectionist Ralph Recto (35.4 percent in 7th to 12th), and former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima (35.0 in 7th to 12th).
Apart from the administration bets, four independent candidates and one each from United Nationalist Alliance, Nationalist People’s Coalition and Akbayan make up the top 12 senatorial picks for the April 12 to 17 poll commissioned by the television network.
The other candidates in the top 12 are Sen. Vicente Sotto III (49.1 percent in 1st to 2nd range), former Sen. Panfilo Lacson (39.9 percent in 4th to 6th), former Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri (39.4 percent in 4th to 6th), Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao (39 percent in 4th to 6th), Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros (35.9 percent in 7th to 12th), and reelectionist Sen. Sergio Osmena III (35.8 percent in 7th to 12th).
Except for De Lima, those included in the Magic 12 are former members of Congress.
The error margin for the nationwide survey is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. The poll has 4,000 registered voters as respondents. RC