Poe, Binay, Roxas statistically tied; presidency a tight race – SWS poll

President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino flashes the faces of the top three would-be presidential candidates for 2016: VP Jojo Binay, Sen. Grace Poe, and Interior Sec. Mar Roxas, during his last SONA. (Screenshot courtesy of PCI live stream via RTVM)

MANILA – Presidential aspirants Senator Grace Poe, Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay and former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II seemed to be in a tight race as the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) presidential preferences survey showed nominal point differences on the contenders’ percentage points.

Poe was the preferred presidential candidate of 26 percent of the 1,200 respondents, while Binay was supported by 24 percent and Roxas was chosen by 20 percent.

Poe, Binay and Roxas’s ratings were ‘not statistically different’ as their margins were not significant, SWS director for survey data library Leo Laroza noted.

Given the two and four percent differences, how well the aspirants run their campaigns would then greatly impact their win, according to an analyst.

The SWS pre-election survey, which was conducted from September 2 to 5, had a sampling error margin of plus-or-minus six percentage points for Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Applying the margin of error, Poe, Binay and Roxas were ‘statistically tied’ in the first place, according to Pulse Asia research director Ana Maria Tabunda.