MANILA (UPDATED) - The race for the presidency continues to be a tight one, the popularity numbers of the four leading presidential contenders in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The March 4-7 BusinessWorld survey, conducted before the Supreme Court ruled that Senator Grace Poe is eligible to run for president, found 27% of the respondents picking the neophyte senator.

READ: SC: Poe qualified to run for president

Vice President Jejomar Binay, meanwhile, got 24%. He shed five points from the previous survey's 29%.

Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Mar Roxas was the biggest gainer, with his number rising by four percentage points to 22%.

Davao City Mayo Rodrigo Duterte's number went down by three points to 21%.

Given the survey's ±2-point sampling error margin, Poe and Binay are considered statistically tied for the top spot. The numbers of Binay, Roxas, and Duterte also overlap if the margin of error will be taken into consideration.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago retained the 4% she got from the previous poll.

The BusinessWorld-commissioned survey was done using face-to-face interviews with 1,800 validated voters.

The survey may reflect the public’s reaction to the first presidential debate held in Cagayan de Oro City on February 21.

ROBREDO JUMPS IN VP RACE

Senators Francis "Chiz" Escudero and Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. were statistically tied for the top spot in the vice-presidential race, but Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo is closing in, the same SWS survey showed.

Twenty-eight percent of the respondents picked Escudero, up by two points from the 26% he got from the Feb. 5-7 SWS survey.

Marcos, on the other hand, retained the 26% he got from the previous survey.

The survey's error margin means that the two senators were also statistically tied.

Robredo, meanwhile, closed in with a five-point jump to 24%.

Ranking fourth is Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who saw his survey number slide by five percentage points to 11%.

Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan share the bottom spot, with 6% and 5%, respectively.