WITH less than six months to go before Election Day, Liberal Party candidates and senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel “Mar” Roxas Jr. lead the 2010 elections race for president and vice president, Pulse Asia’s October survey showed.
Aquino was the choice of 44 percent of the respondents, followed by Nacionalista Party’s Manuel Villar with 19 percent and by party-less Francis “Chiz” Escudero with 13 percent. Escudero has yet to decide whether to push through with his presidential plan, .
Former President Joseph Estrada of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino got 11 percent; Vice President Noli de Castro, who has shown no interest in joining the race, 4 percent; and the Arroyo administration bet, Gilbert Teodoro of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, 2 percent.
In the vice presidential race, LP’s Roxas leads with 37 percent; followed by Legarda, who is rumored to be the running mate of Villar, 23 percent; and Makati Mayor Jojo Binay, running mate of Estrada, 13 percent. Lakas-Kampi’s vice presidential bet Edu Manzano had not yet announced his candidacy when the survey was conducted.
The survey fieldwork was conducted from Oct. 22 to 30 using face-to-face interviews with 1,800 respondents. The period of interview was immediately after or during the following news headlines:
- Estrada’s formal declaration of his bid for the presidency in 2010 and questions raised regarding the legality of this bid
- Legarda’s declaration of her plans for the May 2010 elections and Interior Secretary Ronaldo V. Puno’s withdrawal from the vice presidential race
- Escudero’s departure from the Nationalist People’s Coalition
- Teodoro’s and Villar’s continuing search for a running mate
- The long lines of late registrants catching the last days of registration for the May 2010 elections
- The resignation of Public Works Secretary Hermogenes E. Ebdane Jr.
- Continuing relief efforts in the aftermath of storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng,” as well as the arrival of two new storms
- The freeze on oil prices and other energy products, as well as basic commodities, imposed by the government
In the senatorial race, those who figured in the top 15 are Jinggoy Estrada, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Franklin M. Drilon, Pia S. Cayetano, Ramon Revilla, Binay, Roxas, Jamby Madrigal, Aquilino L. Pimentel, Ralph Recto, Sergio Osmeña III, Vicente Sotto, Willie Revillame, Juan Ponce-Enrile and Manzano.