Duterte remains ahead in latest Pulse Asia poll

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte remains the top choice for president among Filipino voters, according to the latest poll by Pulse Asia conducted on April 26 to 29.

In the poll sponsored by ABS-CBN, one in three Filipinos, or 33 percent, picked Duterte as the country's next leader.

The survey sampled 4,000 registered voters. It had a margin of error of ±1.5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

Duterte's rating remained unchanged from the last Pulse Asia poll conducted on April 19 to 24.

Liberal Party bet Mar Roxas, meanwhile, was second at 22 percent, two points better than his rating in the previous survey. He remains statistically tied with Senator Grace Poe, who garnered 21 percent, a one-point drop from her previous survey rating.

Vice President Jejomar Binay remained at fourth spot with a 17 percent rating, one point lower than his rating from the previous survey. Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago rounded up the list with 2 percent.

Four percent of voters remain undecided, or refused or don't know whom to vote for.

Poe reacts

Poe said the survey results show the need for her to work double time to reach voters in the remaining days of the campaign period.

“Pagdating dito sa mga survey, ginagalang natin ito; at siyempre, kailangan tapatan ng enerhiya ang makinarya ng administrasyon, ang makinarya ng iba. Ako naman ay patuloy pa ring nag-iikot at hindi naman nawawalan ng loob,” she said at the sidelines of the covenant signing for honest and truthful elections in Quezon City.

For his part, Vice President Jejomar Binay admitted that he is no longer looking at the surveys.

“Di na ako nagtitingin sa mga survey-survey. Kasi lalo lang lumalaki ang hindi ko pagtitiwala at maniwala sa survey-survey,” he told reporters covering his sortie in Cauayan, Isabela on Wednesday.

He believes that he still has the support of the people.

“Lagi naman ako. Kahapon andun ako sa teritoryo ni Mr. (Roxas)…teritoryo niya 'yun, nagpunta ako sa Capiz. Napakainit ng pagtanggap sa amin ni Sen. (Manny) Pacquiao. Nagpunta kami sa Antique, nagpunta kami sa Aklan. Same. 'Yung Aklan nagkaisa na ang mga opposition doon,” he said.

Binay said he also released a video message for his supporters urging them to continue what they have been doing.

“Pagpapaalala lang na kami e buong-buo pa. Parang kasi 'yung iba sinisira 'yung aming samahan. Pero 'di nila masisira 'yun. Kasama ko na 'yun nung 2010, kasama namin nung 2013, kasama namin hanggang sa ngayong halalan,” he said.

Events

Among the developments that happened immediately before and during the conduct of the survey were the allegation made by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV against Duterte that the latter owns an account at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) branch on Julia Vargas Avenue in Pasig City which contained at least P211 million in 2014, and the announcement of an alliance between Duterte and the Remullas of Cavite, former allies of Binay.

There was also the withdrawal of support for Roxas of Albay Governor Joey Salceda, and his move to back the candidacy of Poe.

The last Comelec-sanctioned presidential debates in Pangasinan, where all five presidential candidates were present, was conducted two days before the survey.

Other items on the news at the time of the survey period were the arrest of another suspect in the hacking of the Comelec website; beheading of a Canadian national held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf; investigation of the Department of Justice into another laglag-bala incident; and the passing away of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. — with Xianne Arcangel and Amita Legaspi/JST/RSJ/KG, GMA News