MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Vicente Sotto III has kept his lead in the 2016 senatorial race, results of the latest BusinessWorld-Social Weather Stations pre-election survey showed.
The BW-SWS survey, taken from Jan. 8 to 10, showed Sotto obtaining 56 percent voter preference, down from 59 percent in December.
Former senator Panfilo Lacson ranked second with 49 percent, down from 46 percent.
Tied for third and fourth spots were Sen. Ralph Recto and former senator Francis Pangilinan with 46 percent each.
In fifth place was Senate President Franklin Drilon with 43 percent, followed by Sen. Sergio Osmeña III with 42 percent, and former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri with 39 percent from 40 percent.
Boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao ranked eighth with a rating of 37 percent, unchanged from his December score.
He was followed by former justice secretary Leila de Lima who obtained 33 percent from 35 percent.
Former senator Richard Gordon occupied the 10th slot with a rating of 31 percent, down from 32 percent.
Sharing the 11th to 13th slots were Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, former Akbayan representative Risa Hontiveros and Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno with 28 percent each.
In 14th to 16th places were former Pampanga governor Mark Lapid, former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority head Joel Villanueva and former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino at 19 percent each.
A certain Marilou Estrada placed 17th with 18 percent (from 12 percent), followed by Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian with 17 percent (from 21 percent) and actor Edu Manzano with 16 percent (from 15 percent).
Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez was ranked 20th with 13 percent, unchanged from December.
Actress Alma Moreno ranked 21st with 11 percent (from 13 percent), followed by migrant workers advocate Susan Ople with nine percent from eight percent.
The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 validated voters nationwide and has plus or minus three percentage points for national percentages.