Poe, Villar keep Senate race lead; Bong Go maintains strong showing

Re-electionist Senators Grace Poe and Cynthia Villar continue to lead Senate hopefuls, while former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go maintains his strong showing

in the latest Pulse Asia survey released Thursday.

In the Ulat ng Bayan survey conducted from March 23 to 27 among 1,800 respondents, Pulse Asia found that most of the probable winners are either former or incumbent members of Congress – 10 are running under the coalition of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), two are Liberal Party (LP) candidates, another two are running as independent candidates, one is a candidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), and one is running under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Poe, an independent can

didate, remains the topnotcher in the senatorial race with a voter preference of 72.6 percent and a statistical ranking of first place.

In second place is Villar, who has the support of 63.7 percent of registered voters.

She is followed by re-electionist Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, whose voter preference of 58.5 percent translates to a statistical ranking of third to fourth places.

In third to fifth places is Go, whose senatorial bid is backed by 55.7 percent of registered voters.

Go thanked his mentor, President Duterte, saying his endorsement is a major factor in his strong performance in the senatorial race surveys.

“Malaking bagay po talaga ang suporta ni Pangulong Duterte,” said Go. It could be recalled that in several campaign sorties, President Duterte had said voters won’t go wrong with the former SAP, whom he said is “extremely honest” and a “hard-worker.”

Close behind is Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano who is ranked fourth to sixth with a voter preference of 52.2 percent.

Villar, Go, Angara, and Cayetano are part of the HNP coalition.

Former senator Lito Lapid, an NPC candidate, has the support of 48.4 percent of voters and this equates to a statistical ranking of fifth to eighth places.

Sharing sixth to ninth places are Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay (45.5 percent), a candidate of UNA, and former Bureau of Corrections Chief Ronald dela Rosa (44.8 percent), a candidate running under the HNP coalition.

They are followed by four other HNP candidates. These are former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. (40.9 percent, seventh to 10th places), Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos (39 percent, ninth to 12th places), former Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Francis Tolentino (35.7 percent, 10th to 16th places), and former senator Jinggoy Estrada (35.2 percent, 10th to 16th places).

Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV (33.8 percent), an LP candidate, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III (33.6 percent), of the PDP-Laban who is also endorsed by HNP, and former senator Sergio Osmeña III (33 percent), an independent candidate, all share 11th to 16th places.

Completing the list of probable winners is former senator Manuel Roxas II (31.3 percent), another LP candidate, who has a statistical ranking of 11th to 17th places.

Meanwhile, 1.7 percent of registered voters refused to identify their preferred senatorial

candidates for the midterm elections, 1.4 percent said they are not going to vote for any of these candidates, and 1 percent still do not know whom they will elect to the Senate in May 2019.

Meanwhile in the same survey, the awareness rating of Go rose from 96 percent in the February survey to 99 percent in the March survey, as well as those who are voting for him, from 53 percent in February to 55.7 percent in the last survey result.

“Isa itong patunay na masaya ang mga tao sa administrasyon ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte at patuloy ang suporta nila sa ating Pangulo at sa kanyang mga kaalyado (This is one proof that the people are satisfied with the administration of President Duterte and his allies),” said Go, noting that majority of the candidates identified with the administration dominated the survey as probable winners.

“Nagpapasalamat po ako sa ating mga kababayan na kahit saan kami magpunta ay napaka-init ng pagtanggap – kasing init ng panahon po ngayon. Talagang nakakawala po ng pagod (I’m thankful to our countrymen for the warm welcome we got wherever we go),” Go said.