Miriam leads UST presidential survey

MANILA, Philippines – Presidential aspirant Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago topped the latest presidential survey conducted at the University of Santo Tomas (UST).

Santiago obtained two-thirds or 66 percent of the student votes in the survey conducted by the UST’s official student publication, The Varsitarian, from October 26 to December 10.

Based on the survey result, no other presidential candidate garnered two-digit scores in the survey.

Liberal Party’s standard bearer and former Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II was at the second place with 8 percent, followed by Sen. Grace Poe with 5 percent, and Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay. Some 17 percent of the respondents were undecided.

The publication asked the respondents who they would vote if elections were held on the same day they were polled.

This is the third time Santiago won a student poll since candidates filed certificates of candidacy. She also led the polls in the campuses of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

“Clearly, students know that the presidency is no place for the weak-minded, the inexperienced, or the corrupt. It appears that they give weight to my criteria for leaders: academic excellence, professional achievement, and sincerity,” Santiago said in a statement.

Santiago also emerged as the netizens’ top choice for president in a poll run by Facebook last November.