‘Alyansa’ bets dominate SWS’ Senate preference poll

MANILA, Philippines — Senatorial candidates endorsed by President Marcos have dominated a recent commissioned survey conducted by Social Weather Stations.

SWS survey results released in time for the first day of filing certificates of candidacy yesterday found that 10 of the top 12 candidates are part of the administration’s Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 14 to 23, a few days before the formal launch of the alliance on Sept. 26.

It was commissioned by think tank Stratbase ADR Institute.

The respondents were given a list of 40 possible candidates for the Senate. They were asked to choose up to 12 that they would vote for if the elections were held during the survey period.

Leading the list is ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo with 54 percent, followed by former Senate president Vicente Sotto III (34 percent), Sen. Pia Cayetano (31 percent), former president Rodrigo Duterte (25 percent) and Sen. Imee Marcos (25 percent).

They are followed by former senator Panfilo Lacson (24 percent), Sen. Bong Revilla (24 percent), Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar (21 percent), Makati Mayor Abby Binay (20 percent) and Sen. Lito Lapid (20 percent).

Tied for the 10th to 13th spots are former senator Manny Pacquiao, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and Sen. Bong Go, who all obtained the support of 18 percent of the respondents.

Out of the 13, only Duterte, Go and Dela Rosa are not part of the administration slate.

Duterte has yet to confirm if he will run for any elective post next year, while Go and Dela Rosa have already confirmed that they are running for a second term.

Sen. Francis Tolentino and Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos are the only “Alyansa” bets who are not in the winning circle, at 14th and 16th spots, respectively.

Former senator Francis Pangilinan, the lone candidate of the once ruling Liberal Party, ranked 15th with 15 percent support.

Another opposition candidate, former senator Bam Aquino of the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, is tied with Abalos with 14 percent.

Compared to a similar survey in March, the latest poll showed significant movements in rankings of some candidates.

Duterte, for instance, went down from the second spot with 36 percent to third to fifth place with just 25 percent.

Villar and Binay, who were previously outside the winning circle, showed significant improvements in the latest poll.

The Las Piñas lawmaker seeks to replace her mother, Sen. Cynthia Villar, while the Makati mayor is gunning for the seat to be vacated by her sister, Sen. Nancy Binay.

Both Senators Villar and Binay are term-limited, with the latter having already filed her certificate of candidacy for mayor of Makati yesterday.

The list of candidates was provided by Stratbase to SWS. The candidates were listed based on the alphabetical order of their surnames.

Some of those in the list had already confirmed running for other posts, such as former vice president Leni Robredo, who is running for mayor of Naga City, and party-list first nominees Chel Diokno (Akbayan), Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna) and Leila de Lima (Mamamayang Liberal).

The survey had 1,500 adult respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.5 percent.