SWS: FPJ, Roco in close race; Loren a winner as VP

Actor Fernando Poe Jr. and former senator Raul Roco are running neck and neck in the most recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on the first choice for president by registered voters, with President Arroyo running third.

The same survey, taken Nov. 16 to Dec. 2, showed that Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda would win hands down as vice president if the elections were held on the day the survey was taken.

Some 1,200 respondents were asked the question: Among the names found in this list, who will you probably vote for as president/vice president of the Philippines if elections were held today?

The SWS survey showed 31 percent of the registered voters have Poe as their first choice while 30 percent chose Roco. Eighteen percent of the respondents picked Mrs. Arroyo, and 12 percent, opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Some six percent chose none of the presidentiables, while two percent were still undecided on their first choice for president.

Roco and Poe were also the top choices of respondents in the November survey of another poll agency, Pulse Asia. The President was ranked only fourth in that survey, behind Sen. Noli de Castro.

Roco was strongest in the SWS survey in the A, B and C classes with an average of 60 percent, while Poe was strongest in the C class with 40 percent. By region, Roco is strongest in Metro Manila and Luzon, while Poe is first in Mindanao. The President, however, was No. 1 in the Visayas with 36 percent.

While Roco and Poe were running a close race, the choice for the vice presidency appeared to be clearer with Legarda ahead by a virtual mile in the SWS survey.

Legarda got the nod of 29 percent of the respondents nationwide in a choice of six vice presidentiables. She got 35 percent in Metro Manila, 31 percent in Luzon, 21 percent in the Visayas and 29 percent in Mindanao.

A surprise second in the survey was Sen. Gregorio Honasan, with 14 percent.

The other first choices of the respondents for vice president were as follows: Senate President Franklin Drilon, 13 percent; Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier, 12 percent, Lacson, 12 percent, and Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., 11 percent. Some three percent were undecided while two percent would not vote for anybody in the list.

A Roco-Legarda tandem got the top billing in the previous Pulse Asia survey. The SWS survey did not try to pair off potential presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Honasan was not available for comment on his surprisingly strong showing in the SWS survey. Legarda, on the other hand, said that while she was greatly pleased, she was aware that the 2004 presidential election campaign is still about 14 months away and a lot of things could happen between now and then.