Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) – In a new Pulse Asia survey commissioned by a television network, independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe has again topped the poll.
The survey was conducted from August 27 to September 3 among 1,200 respondents.
About 27 percent of the participants said they would vote for Poe if elections were held at that period.
Vice president Jejomar Binay of the opposition party United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) ranked second with 21 percent, while Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II landed on the third spot with 18 percent.
Strength in numbers
For years, Binay led surveys on presidential hopefuls until this June, when Poe surged ahead of him. Now, both Binay and Roxas lag behind Poe.
The June Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed Binay in second place followed by Roxas, when people were asked who will be the best leader to succeed Pres. Benigno Aquino III.
In the Pulse Asia survey for the same month, respondents were asked about their presidential preference — Binay landed in second place, but Roxas slid into fourth place after Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
In September, SWS released two different reports on a presidential race survey.
Also read: Conflicting results: SWS survey shows Binay ranks 2nd, Rixas 3rd
Poe remained on top, as 26 percent of respondents said they would vote for her next year. SWS also said Filipinos prefer Binay over Roxas as the country’s next chief executive.
SWS, however, also released results from the same survey showing Roxas outscoring Binay, and not the other way around.
SWS explained that respondents were asked two different questions in the poll.
First, the agency asked respondents to name their top three choices for president — that’s when Roxas finished in second place. The agency also asked respondents to name just one choice — that’s when Binay finished in second.
SWS admited in an interview with CNN Philippines that the second report is a more reliable basis for the outcome of the elections next year.
In terms of political affiliation, Roxas receives the biggest advantage. The LP currently has the most number of members in elective positions, with 6,700 incumbents. It holds the majority of seats in congress and elective positions at the provincial and city levels.
Two other parties allied with the LP – the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and the Nacionalista Party (NP) – have over 4,000 members holding elective positions.
This places Roxas in a position of great influence, except that the two parties still have to declare their support for him in the 2016 presidential polls.
Binay’s UNA is only the fifth largest party in the country with over 1,300 incumbent officials.
The opposition party, however, claimed it is in talks for an alliance with all parties except LP in the upcoming elections.
