Lim leads in survey

MANILA, Philippines - Incumbent Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim continues to lead in the election survey in Manila but former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief retired General Avelino “Sonny” Razon Jr. is slowly closing in and turned the coming political exercise into a wide open race among three contenders.

Razon or Kuya Sonny has strategically positioned himself as an alternative to traditional politics in Manila and is expected to give a good fight against Lim and former Mayor Lito Atienza.

A survey conducted by The Issues and Advocacy Center or The Center on 2,400 respondents in the city’s six districts showed Lim garnering a rating of 40 percent, Atienza with 28 percent and Razon 23 percent.

Ed Malay, director of The Center said that while Lim continues to enjoy a commanding 12 percentage points lead over Atienza and 17 percentage points over Razon, the entire political scenario in Manila may likely change depending on how the three top contenders for the mayoralty post will promote their respective political messages as the campaign period enters the homestretch.

The survey was conducted from March 26 to April 10, to determine the sentiments of the respondents reflected in the survey results given the fact that the imponderables have all been removed as the final cast of candidates for the position of Mayor of the City of Manila have become official and are known to the voters of the City.

Awareness rating

The survey which measured the awareness rating for all the leading candidates for the mayoralty post showed that the awareness rating of Razon has improved tremendously and has reached almost the same level as the awareness rating of Lim and Atienza. While the survey results show that Lim is currently leading in the mayoral elections, the percentage of voters’ preference that Lim generated from the respondents cannot as of yet be considered as comfortable because it can still be trimmed down. There is still a good 22 days left till the last day of campaigning on May 8.

Of the three leading candidates in Manila, Malay said it is Razon who is in a position to attract the voters to his side as the people of Manila have practically seen and experienced the management styles of Lim and Atienza.

Lim first became mayor of Manila in 1992 and was reelected in 1995 with Atienza serving as vice mayor during that time.

Lim ran for president in 1998 and Atienza ran for mayor of Manila and won. He was subsequently reelected in 2001 and 2004.

Lim, meanwhile, was appointed by former President Joseph Estrada to head the Department of Interior and Local Government from where he launched his senatorial bid in 2004 after Estrada was ousted from the presidency.

Instead of running for reelection in the senatorial elections, Lim returned to Manila and ran against Atienza’s son Ali in the 2007 mayoral elections in Manila and won.

The 2010 mayoral elections, said Malay, will clearly define the future for the City of Manila and where the city is headed at this crucial time of global economic recession.

The more than 1.2 million voters of Manila will be given the opportunity to choose the kind of leader and governance they would want for the city.

Malay said Manilans have experienced what it was like to be governed by both Lim and Atienza and for some reason the 23 percent that Razon generated from the survey respondents is seen as a sign that the people of Manila are now looking for an option or alternative leader. Razon was clearly the favored candidate by those in the “ABC” class with 45 percent followed by Lim with 42 percent while Atienza experienced a seeming rejection by those in the class as only 22 percent favored him.