Loren, Chiz top Pulse Asia survey

MANILA, Philippines - Re-electionist Senators Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero topped the latest Pulse Asia survey on the Filipinos’ Senatorial preferences for the upcoming midterm polls in May.

Legarda and Escudero maintained their lead in the survey, sharing the first and second spots with 58 percent and 54.3 percent, respectively.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano came in third with 48.9 percent of registered voters supporting his re-election.

Sharing the fourth to ninth places were Nancy Binay, daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay, and San Juan City Rep. JV Ejercito Estrada with 43.6 percent and 43.5 percent, respectively.

 Ranked fourth to 12th were Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV (41.1 percent), Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III (40.7 percent), Cagayan Rep. Juan Ponce Enrile Jr. (40.4 percent) and former Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar (39.1 percent).

Completing the list of probable winners in the senatorial race were former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri (37.6 percent), Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara (37.1 percent), and Sen. Gregorio Honasan (36.8 percent), who shared the sixth to 12th places.

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from Jan. 19 to 30, showed that only three out of 10 voters (34 percent) have a complete senatorial slate, less than four months before the May 13 polls.

Of the 33 candidates vying for a seat in the Senate, Pulse Asia said 12 have a statistical chance of winning if the elections were held during the survey period.

Outside ‘Magic 12’

Outside the winning 12 were youth leader and entrepreneur Bam Aquino (31.4 percent), former Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chairperson Grace Poe-Llamanzares (30.9 percent), and former senators Richard Gordon (30 percent), Jamby Madrigal (26.8 percent), and Jun Magsaysay (23.8 percent).

Former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros garnered 17.5 percent followed by former senator Ernesto Maceda (15.5 percent), former Tarlac governor Margarita Cojuangco (11.8 percent), Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay (9.9 percent), Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn (9.3 percent), evangelist Eddie Villanueva (9.2 percent) and Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño (5.7 percent).

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,800 registered voters 18 years old and above.

The nationwide survey has sampling margin of error of two percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

Top 12 split between LP, UNA

The survey’s top 12 showed a split of five candidates each from the administration’s Team PNoy and the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Both Legarda and Escudero are guest candidates of the Liberal Party-led coalition and UNA.

However, Sen. Franklin Drilon, the campaign manager of Team PNoy, insisted that a majority of the candidates in the “Magic 12” belong to the administration ticket.

Drilon has consistently described Legarda, Escudero and Llamanzares as Team PNoy’s bets, saying that UNA only took them in as guest candidates to fill up its 12-man ticket.

He said the latest survey is a clear demonstration of the electorate’s confidence in the administration of President Aquino.

“We welcome the Pulse Asia’s survey in which seven of the top 12 spots were dominated by Team PNoy, with the top three places also dominated by Team PNoy candidates,” he said.

Without counting Legarda and Escudero, Team PNoy has five candidates in the top 12.

These are Cayetano, Trillanes, Pimentel, Villar and Angara. On the other hand, UNA’s bets in the top 12 were Legarda, Escudero, Binay, Ejercito and Enrile. – With Marvin Sy, Christina Mendez