LP senatorial bets lead latest Pulse Asia poll

Five senatorial candidates from the Liberal Party are included in the top 12 picks for senators in the April 12-17 Pulse Asia survey on senatorial preferences for the upcoming May 2016 elections.

Meanwhile, four independent candidates, and one each from the National People's Coalition, United Nationalist Alliance, and Akbayan were also in the top 12 of the latest survey commissioned by ABS-CBN Corporation.

NPC's Senator Vicente 'Tito' Sotto, who garnered 49.1 percent of votes, shares the top spot with LP bet Senate President Franklin Drilon, with 47.6 percent votes. In the previous survey conducted April 5-10, Drilon was first with 51.6 percent, followed by Sotto at 49.8 percent.

In third place is Senator Francis Pangilinan of the Liberal Party (43.8 percent), followed by independent candidates Senator Ping Lacson (39.9 percent) and former Senator Miguel Zubiri (39.4 percent), and UNA senatorial candidate and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao (39 percent), who are all tied in the 4th-6th place.

Filling the 7th to 12th places are former Akbayan Party List Rep. Risa Hontiveros (35.9 percent), Sen. Sergio Osmena III (35.8 percent), former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Director General Joel Villanueva (35.6 percent), Sen. Ralph Recto (35.4 percent), former Sen. Richard Gordon (35.2 percent), and former Department of Justice (DOJ) Sec. Leila M. de Lima (35 percent).

According to Pulse Asia Research, Inc., 7.3 percent of Filipino voters do not support any of the 50 senatorial candidates for the 2016 elections.

Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian, who garnered 31.5 percent of votes from the earlier Pulse Asia survey, was not in the top 12 of the latest list of senatorial preferences after he received 28.8 percent of overall voter preference.

All of the probable winners from the latest survey, except for De Lima, have been members of Congress.

Face-to-face interviews, error margins

The survey was conducted face-to-face with 4,000 registered voters 18 years old and above with biometrics.

Error margin for the  nationwide survey is ± 1.5 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. 

For the geographic areas, error margins at the 95 percent confidence level are ± 4.6 percent for Metro Manila, ± 2.3 percent for the rest of Luzon, ± 3.4 percent for Visayas, and ± 3.3 percent for Mindanao.

News developments

Among the news developments which preoccupied Filipinos during the April 12-17 survey period was the killing of 13 Abu Sayyaf members in the aftermath of the 10-hour gunfight in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan. Eighteen goverment soldiers died in the clash.

During the survey period, Davao City Mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte challenged fellow candidate and Vice President Jejomar Binay to debate on morality and corruption.

Roxas also received criticisms following the release of a video allegedly showing the host of a sortie telling the audience to cheer loudly or they won't receive “envelopes.”

Janet Lim-Napoles was granted bail by the Fourth and Fifth Divisions of the Sandiganbayan in connection with the plunder charges filed against her in relation to the alleged misuse of the Prior Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of several lawmakers.

Meanwhile, 76 farmers arrested in the aftermath of a protest action in Kidapawan City, Cotabato were released on bail after they were detained for alleged “direct assault upon an agent of a person in authority” following the dispersal of their road blockade along the Cotabato-Davao Highway.

Pacquiao had also won a boxing match against Timothy Bradley on April 10. On the same day, the Comelec-initiated vice presidential debate was held and broadcast nationwide.

The Senate was also conducting an investigation into the US$ 81M money laundering scheme. —Bianca Rose Dabu/KG, GMA News