Mar top choice of Ilonggos for president

ILOILO, Philippines  – Liberal Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II will win if the presidential elections are held here today.

In a survey conducted by Random Access Consultants Inc. from Dec. 15 to 19, nearly half of the 1,200 respondents chose Roxas.

Roxas garnered a 47.9 percent rating while Sen. Grace Poe was a far second with only 19.6 percent. 

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago ranked third with 11.3 percent, while Vice President Jejomar Binay and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte got 9.9 percent and 8.7 percent, respectively.

Roxas, Poe and Santiago have Ilonggo roots.

Roxas is from Roxas City in Capiz while Poe, a foundling, was reportedly abandoned in front of the Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral in Iloilo City in 1968. Santiago was born and raised in Iloilo.

Five in 10 respondents said they prefer Roxas because he is a town mate (28 percent), a good man (12 percent) and they want him to continue the Aquino administration’s daang matuwid (9.7 percent).   

Those who chose Roxas said they would stick by their decision.

Roxas led the survey with 45.8 percent in the first district, 38.4 percent in the second, 41.2 percent in the third, 57.2 percent in the fourth and 54.6 percent in the fifth district.

The survey has a margin of error of three points.

Iloilo has 1,347,514 registered voters.

Leni leads Chiz

 The same survey showed Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo leading Sen. Francis Escudero among vice presidential candidates.

Robredo got 28.9 percent, a 3.5-point lead over Escudero’s 25.4 percent.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano got 11.9 percent; Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with 9.6 percent and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV with 9.3 percent are statistically tied in third place, while Gringo Honasan got 4.8 percent.

Robredo and Escudero were statistically tied in all districts. Thirty-two percent of the respondents in the first district said they would vote for Robredo while 27 percent said they prefer Escudero.

Robredo was ahead of Escudero in the second district with 33.7 percent against the senator’s 23.7 percent.

Most respondents in the third district were divided between Robredo (25.8 percent) and Escudero (25.4 percent).  Respondents from the fourth district preferred Robredo (30.4 percent) to Escudero (22.8 percent).

Respondents from the fifth district, however, chose Escudero (27.7 percent) over Robredo (24.2 percent).

Most of the respondents said Robredo’s tandem with Roxas (22.8 percent) was the main reason why they would vote for her. On the other hand, 22 percent of respondents in the district said they chose Escudero because they believe he is a good man.