Manila, December 21: The son of Philippine democracy icon Corazon “Cory” Aquino maintained his lead in the latest opinion poll for next year’s presidential election, but his three key rivals showed improved ratings.
The poll by the independent Pulse Asia, issued on Monday, showed 45 percent of 1,800 respondents prefered Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, standard-bearer of the opposition Liberal Party, for next May’s national and local elections.
“The support for Senator Aquino remains virtually unchanged,” Ana Maria Tabunda, chief research fellow of Pulse Asia Inc, said in a statement, comparing the latest results with the last survey in October when Aquino scored 44 percent.
“On the other hand, there is a significant improvement in voter preference for former president (Joseph) Estrada and marginal increases in the support for Senator Manuel Villar and Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro.”
Estrada’s ratings moved up from 11 percent to 19 percent while Villar’s score jumped from 19 percent to 23 percent. Teodoro, who is backed by the government coalition, also climbed from 2 percent to 5 percent.
Two other candidates — Senator Richard Gordon and preacher Eddie Villanueva — registered 1 percent. About 4 percent of the respondents were undecided or declined to make a choice, Pulse Asia said.
The election is due in May next year and the nomination period ended three weeks ago on Dec. 1. Last week, the elections body allowed only eight of 99 who registered to run for president as official candidates.
Nearly 50 million Filipinos will select a president, a vice president, nearly 300 lawmakers in the two houses of Congress and more than 17,500 local positions.
-Agencies