Grace Poe retains lead in Pulse Asia 2019 senatorial poll survey

FILE: Senator Grace Poe in Tuguegarao City in Cagayan. (Photo: Grace Poe/Facebook)

Senator Grace Poe continues to occupy the top spot in Pulse Asia’s latest Ulat ng Bayan survey on the upcoming senatorial elections.

In its survey done from September 1-7, Pulse Asia said that if the May 2019 elections were held this month, of the 66 individuals included in the September 2018 electoral probe, 17 candidates have “a statistical chance of winning.”

It added that among the 17 probable winners, 13 of them are either incumbent or former members of Congress.

The latest survey revealed that 70.1 percent of the 1,800 survey respondents said they will vote for Poe. This, according to Pulse Asia, translates to a statistical ranking of solo first place.

Poe was followed by Senator Cynthia Villar with 57.7 percent, Taguig City Representative Pia Cayetano with 54.4 percent, and Senator Nancy Binay who is close behind them with 50.6 percent voter preference.

Completing the top five is President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, with 39.5 percent.

The Presidential daughter was followed by Senator Edgardo Angara, Jr. with 37.1 percent and former Senator Jinggoy Estrada with 34.6 percent. The two were ranked fifth to seventh place and sixth to 10th place, respectively.

Meanwhile, the senatorial bets who shared a statistical ranking of seventh to 11th place are Ilocos Governor Maria Imelda Josefa “Imee” Marcos with 32.6 percent, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III with 32.4 percent, and former Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid with 32.2 percent.

Senator Sergio Osmeña garnered 29.8 percent level of support, which landed him in the eighth to 17th place.

Other probable winners in the Pulse Asia’s latest survey are former Senator Manuel Roxas with 27.7%, actor Robin Padilla and former Senator Ramon Revilla, Jr. with 27.4%, broadcaster and columnist Ramon Tulfo with 27.0%, Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Ronald dela Rosa with 27.0%, and Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito with 26.7%. All of whom are ranked 11th to 17th place.

With about a month to go before the filing of certificates of candidacy for the upcoming polls, the Pulse Asia said that nearly half or only 49 percent of Filipinos have already completed their list of preferred senatorial candidates for the May 2019 elections.

“Only 3.6% of Filipinos do not support any of the probable senatorial bets included in this survey probe, refuse to name their preferred senatorial candidates, or still do not know whom they will vote for in May 2019,” it noted.

The nationwide survey used face-to-face interviews to its respondents whose age ranged from 18 years old and above. It has a plus or minus two percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.