Mar gains on Grace, but Duterte retains wide Pulse lead

Mar Rodrigo Duterte, Sen. Grace Poe and former Secretary Mar Roxas at the 2nd presidential debate, in Cebu City.

Ex-Secretary Mar Roxas is gaining on Sen. Grace Poe, the latest Pulse Asia survey commissioned by the ABS-CBN network indicates, but Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte remains the clear frontrunner with an unchanged voter preference rating of 33 percent.

The survey, conducted from April 26 to 29, or the week after the third and final presidential debate was held in Dagupan City, showed Roxas switching places with Poe; they are in a virtual tie, but this time Roxas is nominally ahead at 22 percent, with Poe at 21 percent.

In the previous Pulse Asia poll, conducted between April 16 and April 20, Duterte came in first at 33 percent, followed by Poe at 22 and Roxas at 20. It was the first time since Pulse Asia tracked the 2016 election cycle that Vice President Jejomar Binay landed in fourth place, with 18 percent.

In the latest survey, Binay stayed at fourth, sliding one point to 17 percent. In both polls, Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago brought up the rear, with a 2-percent voter preference score.

The surveys have a sample size of 4,000 voting-age respondents each, who had registered for the elections with their biometrics; they have a sampling margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percent. – JN