Villar ties Aquino in presidential race

Roxas pulls away in VP race 

By Veronica Uy (INQUIRER.net)
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100203-251069/Villar-ties-Aquino-in-presidential-race

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) Less than 100 days before the May 10 general elections, candidates for president Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel “Manny” Villar are now statistically tied, the January 2010 Pulse Asia survey showed.

The nationwide survey of 1,800 voting age Filipinos, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent, also showed Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II pulling away from his nearest rival and colleague, Loren Legarda.

The survey conducted January 22 to 26 showed that Aquino was the choice of 37 percent of the respondents and Villar of 35 percent of would-be voters.

Compared to the December 2009 survey, support for Nacionalista Party’s Villar improved by 12 percentage points while preference for Liberal Party’s Aquino and former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada declined by eight and seven percentage points, the media release on the survey said.

Only six percent do not have a preferred presidential candidate at the time of the survey.
Apart from Aquino and Villar, the voters’ preference for the other presidential bets were: Estrada, 12 percent; former defense secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, 5 percent; evangelist Eduardo “Eddie” Villanueva, 2 percent; Senator Richard “Dick”Gordon, 1 percent; Senator Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal, 0.5 percent; Councilor John Carlos “JC” De Los Reyes, 0.3 percent; little known Vetaliano “Dodong” Acosta, 0.2 percent; and environmentalist Nicanor “Nick” Perlas, 0.05 percent.

By socio-economic class, Aquino was the top choice among the ABC (37 percent against Villar’s 22 percent) and D (40 percent against Villar’s 34 percent) classes, while Villar led in the E class (39 percent against Aquino’s 31 percent).

“Across areas, Aquino led in Metro Manila, with 38 percent support against Villar’s 24 percent. The two front-runners register virtually the same preference in the rest of Luzon (Aquino, 37 percent; Villar, 36 percent); Visayas (41 percent; Villar, 38 percent); and Mindanao (Villar, 36 percent; Aquino, 33 percent),” the media release on the survey said.

By age group, Aquino was the pick among the 18-24 (46 percent against Villar’s 37 percent), the 45-54 (40 percent against Villar’s 31 percent), the 55-64 (38 percent against Villar’s 28 percent), and the 65 and up (42 percent against Villar’s 23 percent).

Villar was most popular among the 25-34 age group (42 percent against Aquino’s 32 percent) and 35-44 age group (36 percent against Aquino’s 32 percent).

Based on a predetermined set of reasons for their choice, the respondents said their bet was “not corrupt or has a clean record” (24 percent) and “cares for the poor” (also 24 percent).

Competence – as expressed in the survey as “can do something, is doing something, will do something” (16 percent), “used to governing” (6 percent), and “knowledgeable/intelligent” (4 percent) – did not rank high among the reasons for respondents’ choices.

On the race for the second highest post in the land, Roxas took 47 percent of the respondents’ votes, giving him a substantial lead over Legarda, with 28 percent. Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay was third with 13 percent.

The other vice-presidential bets’ voters’ preference were: former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani “BF” Fernando, 2 percent; actor Eduardo “Edu” Manzano, also 2 percent; former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Perfecto “Kidlat” Yasay, 1 percent; broadcaster Jose “Jay” Sonza, 0.2 percent; and Ang Kapatiran’s Dominador “Jun” Chipeco, 0.07 percent.

In terms of area, Roxas led in the race in Metro Manila (42 percent against Binay’s 25 percent), the rest of Luzon (44 percent against Legarda’s 26 percent), the Visayas (56 percent against Legarda’s 26 percent), and Mindanao (46 percent against 38 percent).

Roxas enjoyed sizeable leads among all socio-economic classes: ABC (54 percent against Legarda’s 10 percent), D (49 percent against Legarda’s 26 percent), and E (41 percent against Legarda’s 36 percent).

Roxas gained eight percentage points from the December 2009 survey while Legarda lost nine points.

The face-to-face survey was conducted when the following issues dominated public discussion: the deadly magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti; the impending retirements of Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno and military chief Victor Ibrado; the Senate committee of the whole’s report seeking to censure Villar on the C-5 road controversy; the poll body’s decisions on various candidacies, including clearing the way for the candidacies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Estrada; the questions on the automation of the May 2010 polls; and the continuing investigations on the Maguindanao massacre and road rage suspect Jason Ivler.