MBC-dzRH survey: Marcos, Duterte keep strong lead

MANILA, Philippines — The tandem of frontrunners Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte-Carpio maintained their strong lead in their respective presidential and vice presidential races with about two weeks left before the May 9 polls, the latest MBC-dzRH pre-election survey showed.

Just like results of surveys by other firms, Marcos registered a majority of votes with a preferential rating of 52.9 percent in the poll conducted on April 18 and 19.

It showed a 3.1 percentage point increase in the rating of Marcos, from 49.8 percent in the March figures of the same survey conducted in partnership with The STAR.

Marcos’ rating is 28.6 percentage points higher than the 24.3 percent garnered by his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo.Robredo’s rating also increased by 2.9 percentage points from her 21.4 percent in March.

In far third place is Manila Mayor Isko Moreno with 8.2 percent, followed by Sen. Manny Pacquiao in fourth with 5.8 percent and Sen. Panfilo Lacson with 3.6 percent.

Moreno dropped by 1.6 percentage points, Pacquiao by 2.2 points and Lacson by 1.1 point from their previous ratings in March. In the vice presidential survey, Duterte-Carpio also maintained a majority vote with a preferential rating of 54.2 percent.

In far second place is Senate President Vicente Sotto III with 16.9 percent, followed by Sen. Francis Pangilinan with 15.1 percent. Dr. Willie Ong and Deputy Speaker and Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with 6.6 percent and 1.1 percent.

All the other presidential and vice presidential candidates had ratings of less than one percent in the latest survey, which had a sample size of 7,560 and a margin of error of +/- 1.13 percent.

Landslide win

After the governors of Cebu, Batangas and Mindoro, Gov. Ramil Hernandez of Laguna vowed to deliver victory for the Marcos-Duterte UniTeam in his province.

Hernandez, head of the provincial chapter of the ruling Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), made the commitment as he officially endorsed Marcos and Duterte-Carpio during the UniTeam grand rally at the Biñan football field on Thursday night.“The entire PDP-Laban, along with other parties present here, are united in pursuing one mission. I am Gov. Hernandez, as president of PDP-Laban Laguna, my president and vice president are BBM and Sara,” he told the huge crowd of supporters.

Biñan City Vice Mayor Gel Alonte also endorsed Marcos, saying he is fit to become the country’s next president.

Alonte believes that Marcos would bring further development in their province as his father, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, was accredited for most of the developments in the province.

Hernandez and Alonte were joined by other local officials – Vice Gov. Karen Agapay, Deputy Speaker and Laguna Rep. Marlyn Alonte, Biñan City Mayor Arman Dimaguila and Rep. Ruth Hernandez – during the event.

Both facing disbarment

Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio said she and senatorial candidate Larry Gadon are in a similar situation, as they both face disbarment for separate cases.

“We both have disbarment cases. Yours isn’t done, yet? Neither is mine,” she said in Filipino, as she introduced Gadon during the rally in Biñan on Thursday.

Duterte-Carpio faces a disbarment case following two complaints filed against her for manhandling court sheriff Abe Andres in July 2011.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court suspended Gadon following his controversial pronouncements and behavior, the latest of which was when he berated a journalist in an expletives-filled rant for tweeting about Marcos’ tax case. –  Edith Regalado