Poe leads March Pulse Asia survey; Duterte, Binay capture 2nd place

Senator Grace Poe led the presidential candidates in the Pulse Asia pre-election national survey conducted March 15-20, while Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Jejomar Binay were statistically tied in second place.

Poe got the nod of 28 percent of the respondents, while Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte received 24 percent.

Vice President Jejomar Binay had 23 percent, while administration standard bearer Mar Roxas got 19 percent.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago landed in fifth place with 2 percent.

Four percent of the respondents were undecided or refused to pick a candidate.

By region

Poe was strongest in the Balance of Luzon (35 percent) while Roxas led in the Visayas (37 percent).

Duterte was first place in Mindanao (43 percent).

In the National Capital Region, Poe and Duterte were statistically tied, with Poe at 31 percent and Duterte at 30 percent.

By class

Among Class ABC, Duterte led the presidential candidates with 32 percent, followed by Poe at 30 percent.

Poe also led among the Class D respondents, with 27 percent. She was followed by Duterte at 25 percent.

Among the Class C, Poe was first place with 30 percent, followed by Binay at 28 percent.

Alternative pick

Poe was also the top alternative candidate of 29 percent of the respondents should their first choice for president end up not running in the May 2016 elections. Binay came in next as an alternative pick with 18 percent.

 

Duterte and Roxas garnered 15 percent each in terms of voter preference to an alternative candidate. Santiago was the alternative presidential candidate of 7 percent of registered voters.

The poll also showed if Poe decided to discontinue her presidential bid, Binay and Roxas would gain the most at 25 percent and 22 percent, respectively, from her voters.

 

Almost two out of every 10 registered voters (17 percent) did not identify a second choice for president.

4,000 respondents

The Pulse Asia pre-election national survey commissioned by ABS-CBN Corp. covered 4,000 respondents aged 18 years and above, with their respective biometrics profiles. The respondents were chosen via a multistage probability sampling.

The error margin for the nationwide survey was ± 1.5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level

Significant events

One of the significant events that happened immediately prior to or during the survey period was the second presidential debate held in Cebu City in the evening of March 20. Except for Santiago, four of the candidates slugged it out in Cebu.

A joint motion for reconsideration was also filed by four petitioners seeking the disqualification of Poe from the May 9 elections.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Philippines welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision allowing Poe to pursue her presidential bid, citing the ruling as a step toward reducing statelessness in the Asia Pacific.

The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) defended Binay after a national daily published portions of the 2015 Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report with a list of the frozen accounts supposedly linked to the Vice President and his associates. UNA criticized the report as “outdated” and dismissed it as “black propaganda” against the Binay.

The SC denied a motion for reconsideration by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) regarding the high tribunal's earlier ruling that the commission must issue receipts to voters on election day.

In a separate decision, the Comelec authorized voting in shopping malls.

Reactions

Poe is thankful for the unwavering support by the electorate, her spokesperson, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, said in a statement.

"The trust and confidence of the Filipino voting public fuels Sen. Poe to intensify her drive to drum up interest in her platform of governance – Gobyernong May Puso.

"In the coming days we will constantly take heed of the data from the survey to guide us with our next campaign moves," Gatchalian added.

Lawyer Rico Quicho, Binay's campaign spokesperson, said the Vice President's rise in ratings showed that his campaign strategy of going directly to the people is paying off.

"Makikita naman natin na mahigpit pa rin ang laban. Umangat si Vice President Binay, na nagpapahiwatig na may epekto ang pangangampanya niya nang diretso sa taumbayan. Kaya sa darating pang mga araw ay pag-iigihan pa natin ang paglapit sa mga tao upang ihayag ang kaniyang plataporma para maiangat sa kahirapan ang ating mga kababayan," he said.

"Twenty-six million Filipinos have been found to be poor, with 12 million living in extreme poverty. The Vice President believes that the main issue for these elections is poverty and who among the candidates can improve the lives of the poor.

"Only the Vice President has the proven track record in addressing poverty. And he has a concrete plan to help the poor," he added.

The Liberal Party (LP) for its part said it is certain that Roxas will emerge at the top on May 9, election day.

In a statement, LP spokesperson Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez said the Pulse Asia survey indicates that the presidential elections is still a "close race."

"Dito sa huling 39 araw ng kampanya, aangat ang aming mensahe sa lahat ng paninira at pamemeke na patuloy nilalabas ng aming mga karibal. Sa huli, mananaig ang katotohanan," Gutierrez said.

"Buong buo ang aming loob na palakas pa ng palakas ang suporta ng ating mga kababayan kay Mar at Leni, at sila ang magiging number 1 sa pinakamahalagang survey sa May 9," he added.

Duterte's camp meanwhile admitted the race is getting tighter.

"Both the recent survey results of SWS and Pulse Asia are indications that everyone is within striking distance. The race is still up for grabs," Leoncio Evasco, national campaign manager of Duterte, said in a statement.

“What is striking is we improved significantly in Metro Manila where the biggest concentration of voters are. Metro Manila and Cebu are battlegrounds and we are happy with our numbers there,” he added. —with reports by Amita Legaspi, Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez, Xianne Arcangel, and Trisha Macas/KG/VDS, GMA News