Duterte eats into support bases of Poe, Binay: Pulse

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has surged in the latest survey polls by wresting votes away from his presidential rivals, Senator Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay, political analysts said Monday.

In the latest ABS-CBN survey conducted by Pulse Asia, 34% of respondents nationwide picked Duterte as their top choice for president.

The April 12-17 polls also showed him enjoying a 12-point lead over Poe, who ranked second with 22%. Trailing them was Binay with 20 percent.

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Pulse Asia research director Ana Tabunda said some of Poe's supporters in Metro Manila may now be siding with Duterte.

Duterte tallied a seven-point rise in Metro Manila at 43%, from his 37% in the April 5-10 polls. Poe, on the other hand, shed 10 percentage points in the region.

University of the Philippines (UP) Professor Ranjit Rye, meanwhile, said Duterte may be among those who are gaining from a decline in Binay's numbers.

He said the slump in Binay's ranking coincided with the rising popularity of Duterte's anti-crime campaign platform.

Duterte also shared the lead with Liberal Party bet Mar Roxas in the Visayas region, with 34% and 28% respectively. Nationwide, Roxas ranked fourth with 18%.

Solid support for Duterte in Mindanao is also evident with the 61% he tallied in the region.

The 71-year-old mayor also nabbed the solo lead across all social classes with 33% in Class ABC, 23% in Class D and 34% in Class E.

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Despite Duterte's impressive figures, Rye stressed that much can still change in the remaining three weeks of the campaign period.

Among the factors which may still influence the race, he said, are the changing political alliances in the local level and the consistency of the candidates' messaging. -- Report from RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News