Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. remains as the most preferred presidential candidate among Filipino voters, according to an independent Pulse Asia survey conducted before Vice President Leni Robredo's campaign rallies racked up tens of thousands of attendees.
The son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was once again the number one pick for president if the elections were held during the Feb. 18 to 23 survey period, chosen by 60% of the 2,400 survey respondents, Pulse Asia said in its report released Monday.
The Pulse Asia February survey was the first one to be conducted after the official campaign period for national candidates began on Feb. 8. It has a margin of error of ± 2%.
Marcos was followed by Robredo, chosen by 15% of the respondents, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno with 10%, Sen. Manny Pacquiao with 8% and Sen. Panfilo Lacson with 2%.
Should their original choice for president withdraw, 26% of the respondents with a first choice for president said they would vote for Moreno, followed by Pacquiao with 13%, Robredo with 12%, Lacson with 11%, and Marcos with 9%.
Sara Duterte leads VP polls
Marcos' running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, also led the list of preferred vice president candidates, chosen by 53% of the respondents.
She was followed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III with voter preference of 24%, Sen. Francis Pangilinan with 11%, Dr. Willing Ong with 6%, and Rep. Lito Atienza with 1%.
Those with a first choice for vice president are most inclined to choose Sotto as their alternative candidate for the post, with 31% voter preference, followed by Pangilinan with 15%, Ong and Duterte-Carpio both with 11%, and Atienza with 5%.
Of the 64 candidates for senator, 14 have a statistical chance of winning according to the Pulse Asia February poll. The list is once again led by broadcaster Raffy Tulfo supported by 66.9% of likely voters, followed by Antique Rep. Loren Legarda, former DPWH Sec. Mark Villar, and former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano in second to fourth places, and Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri and Sorsogon Gov. Francis Escudero in fifth to seventh places.
When it comes to the party-list elections, nine groups obtained voter preference of at least 2% of the total number of votes, which means they are likely to secure at least one seat in the House of Representatives.
These party-list groups are ACT-CIS (8.02%), Ako Bicol (5.97%), Senior Citizens Partylist (5.61%), [email protected] (5.38%), 4Ps (5.25%), An Waray (2.92%), Uswag Ilonggo (2.60%), Gabriela (2.31%), and AGAP (2.11%).
See the full Pulse Asia survey results here.
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