Only a few points separate Senate candidates: Pulse Asia

RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Pulse Asia Research president Ronald Holmes on Wednesday said the race for Senate seats in the 2016 elections is getting more competitive among the 4th to 13th placers.

This is based on the latest ABS-CBN pre-election survey conducted by Pulse Asia.

"Iyung from 4th down to 13th, the distance in terms of level of support is getting narrower," Holmes said. "You see that the 4th placed candidate has 39%, the one in a straight ranking, 12th ranking is about 33%. There's a 6-point margin between the 4th place and the 12th place. Let's say a 9-point margin between 4th and 13th placer.

"This is a broad range. That's the reason why the ranks of people who occupy those places tend to change from survey to survey," he explained. "Bumababa iyung ranggo pero 'di naman ganun kalaki iyung pagbaba ng level of support. The ones who are able to maintain their level of support (are the) same people in contention."

Holmes said it's basically the same names from the previous survey. "The senatorial race we have, essentially same 13 candidates in contention."

Four thousand respondents were polled from April 26 to 29, with a nationwide margin of error of 1.5%.

The likely winning circle is led by Senate President Franklin Drilon, followed by Senator Tito Sotto, former Senator Kiko Pangilinan, former Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senator Ping Lacson, Representative Manny Pacquiao, former PhilHealth director Risa Hontiveros, former TESDA chief Joel Villanueva, Senator Serge Osmeña, former Senator Dick Gordon, former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Senator Ralph Recto and Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian.

The same names were present in the immediately preceding survey though there were changes in ranking.

The April 19 to 24 survey ranked the senatorial candidates in this order: Sotto, Drilon, Pangilinan, Lacson, Pacquiao, Zubiri, Hontiveros, De Lima, Osmeña, Villanueva, Gordon, Recto and Gatchalian.

Drilon, Pangilinan, De Lima, Villanueva and Recto are under the administration party, while Sotto and Gatchalian are under the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

Pacquiao is with UNA, Hontiveros with Akbayan, while Lacson, Zubiri, Osmeña and Gordon filed their certificates of candidacy as independent.

Only Pacquiao, Hontiveros, Villanueva, de Lima and Gatchalian would be the only first timers in the Senate, if elected. Of these four, De Lima is the only one without prior experience as a legislator.

The previous ABS-CBN Survey by Pulse Asia also showed that Filipino registered voters are naming an average of seven of their choices for senator.