MANILA, Philippines (2nd UPDATE) – Senator Grace Poe regained her poll front-runner status in the presidential race, according to the latest Pulse Asia Research, Incorporated survey released on Friday, April 1.
In the ABS-CBN-commissioned survey conducted from March 15 to 20, Poe obtained a voter preference rating of 28%, up 2 percentage points from her rating in the previous poll.
"Nearly 3 in 10 Filipino registered voters (28%) would elect Senator Grace Poe as the country’s next president if the May 2016 elections took place during the survey period," said Pulse Asia president Ronald Holmes.
Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Jejomar Binay, the United Nationalist Alliance standard-bearer, were statistically tied for second place. Duterte's rating is at 24%, down by 1 percentage point, while Binay's rating improved to 23%, a 1-percentage point increase.
Administration standard-bearer Manuel "Mar" Roxas II, with a preferential rating of 19%, lost 1 percentage point.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago got a preference rating of 2%, down 1 percentage point.
Barely two months before the May 9 elections, 4% of registered voters remained undecided on their presidential bets. This is 1 percentage point lower than in the previous poll.
Regional, socioeconomic class preferences
Poe is still the top choice in the rest of Luzon with a rating of 35%, up 1 percentage point, while Roxas has kept his lead in the Visayas where 37% of voters favor him, a 1-percentage point gain.
Duterte remains the top choice in his bailiwick, with a rating of 43% among Mindanao voters though this is a 3-percentage drop from his previous rating.
Poe and Duterte share the lead in Metro Manila with 31% and 30%, respectively, both up by 1 percentage point.
The lady senator and the mayor also share the lead in the well-off Class ABC (30% and 32%, respectively), and Class D (27% and 25%, respectively).
The poorest Class E favors Poe (30%) and Binay (28%).
Poe still top 2nd choice
Poe continued to be the preferred second choice for voters should their primary candidate withdraw from the race (29%).
Binay, Duterte, and Roxas were next with essentially the same second-choice presidential voter preferences – 18% for Binay and 15% for the other two.
Almost two out of every 10 Filipino registered voters (17%) do not identify a second choice for president," Holmes said.
The last day of the survey period, March 20, was the day of the second presidential debate in Cebu City. It was unclear, however, whether the latest numbers reflected public sentiment on the debate which began past 6 pm and lasted for over two hours.
Among the major issues during the survey period, conducted a week after the Supreme Court voted to allow Poe to run, were the joint motion for reconsideration seeking to disqualify Poe, and UNA's defense of Binay following an Anti-Money Laundering Council report that he allegedly got billions of pesos from infrastructure projects while he was Makati mayor.
The Senate also began its probe into the $81-million Bangladesh bank heist during the survey period.
The nationwide survey, conducted among 4,000 registered voters, has a ±2% error margin at the 95% confidence level.
Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the following error margins at 95% confidence level: ±4.6% for Metro Manila, ±2.3% for the rest of Luzon and ±3.4% for Visayas and ±3.3 for Mindanao.
Bets react
Poe thanked her supporters and said the latest poll numbers will inspire her to work harder during the campaign, according to Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Poe's spokesperson.
"The trust and confidence of the Filipino voting public fuels Sen. Poe to intensify her drive to drum up interest in her platform of governance – Gobyernong May Puso. In the coming days we will constantly take heed of the data from the survey to guide us with our next campaign moves," Gatchalian said.
Rico Quicho, UNA campaign spokesperson, said Binay's rise in the latest survey is the fruit of the Vice President's "direct campaign" strategy.
"Umangat si Vice President Binay, na nagpapahiwatig na may epekto ang pangangampanya niya nang diretso sa taumbayan. Kaya sa darating pang mga araw ay pag-iigihan pa natin ang paglapit sa mga tao upang ihayag ang kanyang plataporma para maiangat sa kahirapan ang ating mga kababayan," he said.
(Vice President Binay's rating rose, which indicates that his direct campaign to the people is effective. In the coming days, we will step up this strategy so he can relay his platform to lift the people from poverty.) – Rappler.com