MANILA, Philippines – The latest Pulse Asia survey showed that Vice President Jejomar Binay’s lead as preferred candidate in the 2016 presidential race has dropped, although he is still ahead of other presidential hopefuls.
The poll indicated that the people’s preference of Binay for president dipped by 10 points; ranking 31-percent in September from 41-percent in June. He, however, continued to lead the pack of presidential aspirants for 2016.
Data revealed that the greatest drop in popularity was among the upper-class (A, B, and C) respondents, which saw a slide of 13 percentage points from June’s 36-percent to September’s 23-percent.
Moving up to the number two spot is Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, whose popularity rose from 7-percent to 13-percent.
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago took third place with 11-percent.
Rounding out the top ten are: Senator Grace Poe in 4th place (10-percent); former president and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, 5th place (10-percent); Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, 6th place (5-percent); Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., 7th place (4-percent); former vice president Noli De Castro, 8th place (3-percent); Philippine Red Cross (PRC) chairman Richard “Dick” Gordon in 9th place (2-percent); and rehabilitation czar Secretary Panfilo Lacson, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo, and Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. sharing 10th place with one percent of the survey votes.
Senator Grace Poe is in the lead of vice presidential candidates; with a 5-point increase in preference, giving her 31-percent of survey votes September.
At number 2 is Escudero (19-percent); 3rd is Cayetano (9-percent); Senator Antonio Trillanes IV is at 4th (7-percent); 5th, Marcos (6-percent); 7th Batangas governor Vilma Santos (5-percent); 8th Senate President Franklin Drilon (5-percent); 9th, Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada (3-percent); and businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan at 10th ( 2-percent).
A total of 1, 200 people were surveyed for the poll, which was taken from September 8 to 15.