Bongbong Marcos maintains big lead among presidential bets in Feb. 2022 Pulse Asia poll

Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. maintained his big lead among fellow presidential bets in pre-election polls, scoring 60% for the second consecutive Pulse Asia survey released on Monday.

The poll, conducted from February 18 to 23, showed Vice President Leni Robredo a far second with 15%, followed by Manila Mayor Isko Moreno with 10%.

Senator Manny Pacquiao settled for fourth place with 8%, followed by Senator Panfilo Lacson with 2%.

The rest of the presidential candidates namely Faisal Mangondato, Leody de Guzman, Jose Montemayor, Jr., Ernesto Abella and Norberto Gonzales scored 0.4% or less.

There were 4% of respondents who are undecided.

Marcos' high rating is anchored on his 68% and 66% scores in Mindanao and the National Capital Region (NCR), respectively.

Marcos, son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte as a running mate.

Marcos also scored 58% in Balance Luzon and 53% in Visayas.

Marcos' 60% rating, however, is unchanged compared to the Pulse Asia poll conducted last January 19 to 24 and released last February 13.

Camp thankful

“We again thank the Filipino people for their unwavering trust in the leadership capabilities and competence of presidential frontrunner Bongbong Marcos to lead us through this most challenging period of our history," Marcos' spokesman Vic Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said the Pulse Asia poll results had "again debunked the fake narrative being forced by some small segment of our society on the current sentiments and vote preference of us, Filipinos."

" While some of them may claim that they are winning in ‘Twitter’ and ‘Google’ searches, frontrunner Bongbong Marcos is winning the battle with the Filipino people," Rodriguez said.

'Most recent surge'

The camp of Robredo said the latest survey result did not capture yet the "most recent surge" of support for Robredo's candidacy, mentioning the grand rallies of the Vice President, which were attended by thousands of people.

"Recent weeks have seen a snowballing in support for VP Leni, with massive, record breaking rallies from Butuan to Bacolod, Cavite to Isabela, Sampaloc to Malolos. The latest Pulse Asia survey was done prior to these game changing developments, and does not yet capture the more recent surge in VP Leni's support," lawyer Barry Gutierrez, Robredo's spokesperson, said.

"With this clear momentum from the people's campaign -- reflected both in the massive rallies as well as in online metrics -- we are confident that the next 56 days will culminate in an election day victory for Leni Robredo," he added.

Surveys not election

Lacson remains “unbothered” by the recent Pulse Asia survey, saying the numbers in the pollsters are different from the support that he feels on the ground.

“Surveys are not elections. Last time I heard, election is on May 9. I’m not bothered at all simply because the numbers I feel on the ground are different from what the surveys indicate,” he said in a statement.

“After the presidential interviews and forums, I thought I should gain instead of lose support.  Having said all that, I will continue this fight all the way to Election Day,” he added.

Not the true public pulse

For Aksyon Demokratiko chairman Ernest Ramel, the latest Pulse Asia survey does not show the current preferred presidential candidates of the public.

"Ang datos ng Pulse Asia ay hindi na nagpapakita ng kasalukuyang pulso ng mamamayan dahil halos isang buwan na ang lumipas mula noong ginawa ang naturang survey," he said in a statement.

Ramel said internal numbers received by the party greatly differ from the survey, adding that Marcos' numbers are going down while Moreno's are going up.

"Ang internal numbers na nakukuha namin na mas malapit sa kasalukuyang panahon ay may mas malaki ng pagkakaiba hambing sa numero ng Pulse Asia," he said.

VP, Senate bets

Sara Duterte meanwhile led her rivals in the same Pulse Asia survey for vice presidential preferences, scoring 53% as against far second and Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III who rated 24%. 

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, for his part, was at far third with 11%; physician Willie Ong at 6%, while Deputy Speaker Joselito Atienza only had 1%.

As for Senate bets, broadcast journalist Raffy Tulfo topped the senatorial preferences in the same Pulse Asia survey with 66.9%.

He was followed by Antique Representative Loren Legarda with 58.9%, former Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar with 56.2%, Taguig lawmaker Alan Peter Cayetano with 55.0%, Senator Miguel Zubiri with 50.5%, and Sorsogon Governor Francis Escudero with 49.8%.

The Pulse Asia poll, the first to be conducted during the campaign period that started February 8, used face-to-face interviews on 2,400 respondents aged 18 years old and above, who are registered voters and likely to vote in the May 2022 elections.

The Pulse Asia survey has a ± 2% error margin at the 95% confidence level. 

Subnational estimates for each of the geographic areas covered in the survey (i.e., Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) have a ± 4% error margin, also at 95% confidence level. — with Anna Felicia Bajo/KG/RSJ/NB, GMA News