Incumbent, former lawmakers dominate Pulse Asia survey on Senate bets 

Incumbent and former members of Congress, as well as a former Cabinet secretary, would most likely win if the senatorial elections were held today, a recent survey conducted by pollster Pulse Asia showed.

Results from a Pulse Asia survey conducted from Dec. 4 to 11 and released on Tuesday showed Sen. Vicente Sotto leading tha pack, topping the survey with an overall voter preference of 67.9 percent.

Pulse Asia said five candidates shared second spot: Sen. Ralph Recto, 58.9 percent; former Sen. Panfilo Lacson, 58.5 percent; former Sen. Richard Gordon, 57.0 percent; former Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, 55.9 percent; and Senate President Franklin Drilon, 55.1 percent.

Others who were included on the list of preferred senatorial candidates were:

• Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis Pangilinan, 54.5 percent;
• Senator Sergio Osmeña III, 49.8 percent;
• former Justice Sec. Leila de Lima, 46.8 percent;
• Saranggani Rep. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquaio, 40 percent;
• Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, 38.6 percent;
• Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, 36 percent; and
• former Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros, 35.7 percent

Not inclined to vote

Pulse Asia stated only 1.1 percent of Filipino registered voters were not inclined to vote for any of the candidates included in the senatorial electoral probe while less than 1 percent either do not know whom to vote for as senator (0.9 percent) or refused to identify their preferred senatorial  candidates (0.3 percent).

The survey was conducted among 1,800 respondents who were registered voters aged 18 and above from different parts of the country, the pollster said.

The respondents were asked: “Kung ang eleksyon ng 2016 ay isasagawa ngayon, sinu-sino sa mga sususnod na personalidad ang inyong iboboto kung sakaling sila ay kakandidato sa pagka-senador? Pwede kayong pumili ng hanggang 12 pangalan?”

They were also asked if they heard, read, or seen anything about the candidates.

The names on the list of 89 candidates were taken from the certificates of canvass submitted to the Commission on Elections last October 12 to 16, 2015.

Pulse Asia said the survey had a ± 2 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level. Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey had the  following error margins at 95 percent confidence level: ± 6% for Metro Manila, ±3% for the rest of Luzon, and ±5% for each of Visayas and Mindanao.

The pollster also said that respondents named an average of nine of their preferred candidates for senator, with most of them already having a complete slate for the Senate (55 percent). — RSJ, GMA News