Pulse Asia poll shows Pinoys still trust Duterte: Palace

MANILA – Malacañang on Wednesday welcomed results of a pre-election survey which showed that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and President Rodrigo Duterte led the list of Filipinos’ top bets for president and vice president.

According to the Pulse Asia survey, which was from June 7-16 with 2,400 respondents, revealed that about 28 percent of Filipinos prefer Sara as their presidential candidate, while 18 percent want President Duterte to run for vice president.

“Nagpapasalamat po kami sa tiwala ng taongbayan na ibinigay kay Presidente at kay Mayor Sara Duterte (We thank the people for their trust in President and Mayor Sara Duterte),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace press briefing.

Roque said the survey results show that Filipinos do not mind attempts made by Duterte’s critics and detractors to discredit him or destroy his family’s reputation.

“‘Yan po’y nagpapakita na kahit ano pang ipukol ng mga kritiko ni Presidente laban sa kanya ay patuloy pa rin pong nagtitiwala at naniniwala ang sambayanang Pilipino sa liderato po ni Presidente Rodrigo Duterte (That shows that no matter what the President’s critics throw at him, the Filipino people continue to trust and believe in the leadership of President Rodrigo Duterte),” he added.

The Pulse Asia survey showed that Sara earned the highest voter preference in Metro Manila, getting 18 percent. It was followed by Balance Luzon (17 percent) and the Visayas and Mindanao (14 percent each).

She also got the nod of 17 percent of respondents in Class D, 12 percent in Class E, and 10 percent in Class ABC.

Duterte, on the other hand, received the highest score in his bailiwick in Mindanao (35 percent), followed by the Visayas (14 percent), Balance Luzon (13 percent), and Metro Manila (11 percent).

He also posted a high voter preference among Classes ABC (14 percent), D (18 percent), and E (16 percent).

Other preferred presidential candidates were Senator Grace Poe and former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (13 percent each), Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao (12 percent), and Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go (9 percent).

Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” enjoyed the second spot in terms of the preferred candidates in the vice presidential race, getting 14 percent followed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Marcos (10 percent each), Pacquiao (9 percent), Alan Peter Cayetano (8 percent), Francis “Chiz” Escudero (7 percent), Go (5 percent), television host Willie Revillame (4 percent), and Senator Juan Edgardo Angara (3 percent).

Pulse Asia used ±2 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.

In his regular Talk to the People on Monday night, Duterte admitted that he is only considering running as vice president next year to “scare off” his critics.

“Ako naman yung vice president ko, pangtakot ko lang sa kanila ‘yan pero sabi ko (I am only using my willingness to run as vice president to scare them, but I said) let us see. If it is good for the country, I will do it. If it does not contribute anything to our Republic, huwag nalang. Magsasayang lang tayo ng oras pati (maybe not. We will just waste time and) you contribute to the conundrum of the moment,” he said.

He also again expressed disapproval after Sara expressed “openness” to join the presidential race, saying he would rather have either one of his two staunchest critics—former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV or Senator Leila de Lima win the country’s highest office so they could do “whatever they want.”

“My stand is I am against really the candidacy of my daughter. I want her spared from the vagaries of politics dito sa Pilipinas lalo na itong mga (here in the Philippines especially from) personalities around in the likes of [former Senator Antonio] Trillanes, si [Senator Leila] de Lima, walang ginawa kundi mang-atake ng kapwa tao nila (who did nothing but attack their fellowmen),” he said.