Mar, Chiz, Loren top VP survey - SWS

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Manuel Roxas II topped the list of preferred vice presidential aspirants in the latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Roxas got 38 percent of the vote from 1,800 respondents, followed by Senators Francis Escudero with 21 percent and Loren Legarda with 17 percent, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay who each got six percent.

The results of the SWS vice-presidential survey were released by the online news agency www.abs-cbnnews.com.

The news website said the survey on the vice presidential preference was a rider or an additional question, which was commissioned by a private individual and was added to the SWS Third Quarter survey on the “Best Leader to Succeed President Arroyo” released by the polling agency last Wednesday.

The SWS quarterly survey, which was non-commissioned, showed that 60 percent of Filipinos believe Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III would be the best leader to succeed Mrs. Arroyo in 2010.

The website said that a private party paid for the rider question on the vice presidential aspirants for the SWS survey that was conducted on Sept. 18 to 21.

It said another rider question to the SWS September survey asked respondents to choose which leader they prefer for president among four names – Senator Aquino, Senator Manny Villar, former President Joseph Estrada, and Senator Escudero.

It said respondents were allowed to pick only one name.

Aquino again topped the list with 51 percent; followed by Villar with 20 percent, Estrada, 11 percent and Escudero, eight percent.

The agency said that respondents were also asked which among these four tandems they prefer: Aquino-Roxas, Villar-Vice President Noli de Castro, Escudero-Legarda, Estrada-Binay.

The website said the results showed that the tandem of Aquino-Roxas was the top choice of the respondents with 57 percent; followed by Villar-De Castro, 19 percent; and the tandems of Escudero-Legarda and Estrada-Binay with nine percent each.

The SWS survey was conducted from Sept. 18 to 21 and used face-to-face interviews with 1,800 adults.

It has an error margin of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.

It has been the policy of the SWS not to release results of its surveys that were commissioned by private individuals, unless the concerned party approved the release.