Drilon, Sotto sustain lead in SWS survey

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Franklin Drilon and Sen. Vicente Sotto III kept their lead in the senatorial race based on the Social Weather Station (SWS) survey released Monday.

Drilon and Sotto were followed by Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao and former Sen. Francis Pangilinan who placed third and fourth, respectively.

In the fifth and sixth spot were former Sens. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson Sr. and Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri.

Meanwhile, three new names were tied for the seventh to ninth place namely former PhilHealth Director Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, former Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, and Joel Villanueva.

Independent candidate Sen. Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III and former Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon ranked 10th and 11th, respectively, while former Sen. Ralph Recto and Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian were tied for the 12th and 13th spot.

Among the incumbents, only Sen. Teofisto Guingona III failed to make it to the top 12 of the survey.

The SWS polled 1,800 validated voters from April 18 to 20 with sampling error margins of ±2 points. The poll was commissioned and first published by BusinessWorld.

The two re-electionists, Sotto and Drilon, were also the front runners in the First Quarter SWS survey of voting preferences for senators conducted from March 30 to April 2 and were the top contenders in the Pulse Asia survey polled from April 12 to 17.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Party dominated the survey as seven bets who made it in the top 12 of the preferential survey are from its senatorial slate. These are Drilon, Pangilinan, Lacson, Hontiveros, Villanueva, De Lima, and Recto.

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