New Pulse Asia poll shows Duterte-backed candidates surged to higher spots

MANILA, Philippines — While re-electionist Sen. Grace Poe remained on top of the latest Pulse Asia survey for the Senate race in the coming 2019 midterm elections, the same poll showed several candidates backed by President Rodrigo Duterte surging to higher spots in a span of a month.

Poe retained the top spot boasting 99 percent voter awareness. She was followed by fellow Sen. Cynthia Villar who was the lone candidate with 100 percent voters’ awareness.

The latest survey also showed administration-backed candidates surging to higher spots than last month’s poll.

READ: Poe continues to sustain lead in Pulse Asia senatorial poll

Admin-backed ticket

Former Presidential Assistant to the President Bong Go jumped to the third to fifth spot compared to his sixth to 12th ranking last January.

About 53 percent of respondents said they would vote for Go.

Former top cop Ronald dela Rosa, who was lingering at the 11th to 16th spot in January, advanced to the poll’s 5th to 8th for February. Dela Rosa, who held the Bureau of Corrections chief post prior to joining the Senate race, had a voter preference of 44.6 percent.

Duterte’s former political adviser Francis Tolentino ranked 11th to 15th in the latest survey. In the January poll, Tolentino was ranked 17th to 18th.

The survey showed that 32.1 percent would vote for Tolentino.

Opposition ticket

Former Interior and Local Government chief Mar Roxas was the only bet from the opposition Otso Diretso who entered the Magic 12.

But his fellow opposition bets also saw a jump in their rankings in the latest survey. Rights lawyer Chel Diokno ranked 24th to 31st from the survey conducted on January, but he surged to the 22nd to 27th spot in the February poll.

The latest poll showed voter awareness on Diokno jumping to 39 percent from January’s 23 percent.

Former Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares also jumped to the 19th to 23rd rank from January’s 24th to 29th spot. In the latest poll, Colmenares recorded 9.7 percent voter preference from last month’s 5.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Maranao leader Samira Gutoc ranked 32nd to 48th in the January survey but she ranked 26th to 34th in the latest Pulse Asia poll.

The survey was conducted among 1,800 Filipino adults using face-to-face interviews from February 25 to 28. The respondents were allowed to give multiple responses up to 12 names. — Kristine Joy Patag