9 party-list groups lead SWS March poll

MANILA, Philippines — Nine party-list organizations were leading in the latest commissioned survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The March 15 to 20 survey, commissioned by Stratbase group, found that the 4Ps party-list is still the most preferred among the 156 organizations running in this year’s elections.

It obtained the support of 10.44 percent of the respondents, followed by Duterte Youth with 8.42 percent and ACT-CIS with 5.29 percent.

Following them were FPJ Panday Bayanihan (4.17 percent), Ako Bicol (2.51 percent), Asenso Pinoy (2.45 percent), Senior Citizens (2.28 percent), TGP (2.05 percent) and Agimat (2.0 percent).

Based on electoral rules, party-lists that secure at least two percent of total votes are guaranteed at least one seat in Congress.

The rest of the allocated seats were divided based on the computation released by the Supreme Court in an earlier ruling.

According to the latest survey, 16 other party-list groups have obtained the support of at least one percent of the respondents.

These include Tingog, Coop-Natco, Bicol Saro, EduAksyon, SSS-GSIS Pensyonado, Anakalusugan, Malasakit@Bayanihan, 1-Rider, Kabataan, Agap, Manila Teachers, Magsasaka, PBBM, Trabaho, United Senior Citizens and Murang Kuryente.

Stratbase president Dindo Manhit said consistent performance of the leading party-list groups “reflects a pattern driven by strong name recall and issue association among voters.”

Manhit urged voters to go beyond name recall and assess the platform and track records of the party-list groups.

“While popularity and familiarity play a major role in shaping voter preferences, it is vital for Filipinos to look beyond name recall when casting their votes,” he said.