Noynoy regains lead; Villar drops 6 points

Mar keeps double-digit lead in VP race

MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) - Senator Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III has regained the lead in the presidential race with a 7 percentage point lead in the latest Pulse Asia survey.

If the elections were held during the survey period February 21 to 25, the Liberal Party standard-bearer would have won the elections with 36%.

Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential bet Manny Villar dropped 6 percentage points from the January 22-26 survey getting 29% support from respondents, while former President Joseph Estrada gained 6 percentage points with 18% first-choice votes.

"With less than three months before the May 10, 2010 elections, Sen. Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III (LP) again takes the lead in the presidential race, garnering 36% of voter preferences," Pulse Asia said in its March 5 media release.

"Compared to the January survey, voter support for Senator Aquino is virtually unchanged. On the other hand, voter preference for former President Estrada improves (by 6 percentage points) while that for Senator Villar declines (by 6 percentage points)," Pulse Asia added.

(For story on last Pulse Asia survey, read: Aquino, Villar tied in Pulse Asia survey)

The survey was conducted after the Senate committee of the Whole recommended the censure of Villar for unethical conduct and allegations of bribery against Villar in connection with the C-5 road project.

The results are consistent with a January 28-Feb. 3 Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) survey showing Aquino regaining the lead following the Senate report recommending Villar's censure.

In the February 21-25 Pulse Asia survey, administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro got 7%, a 2 percentage point increase from the January 2010 survey.

Bangon Pilipinas standard-bearer Bro. Eddie Villanueva, Sen. Richard Gordon, Sen. Jamby Madrigal, Nick Perlas, Vetallano Acosta, and John Carlos 'JC' de los Reyes were statistically tied at the bottom between 0-2%.

Six percent of respondents refused to answer or were undecided or gave no answer.

A total of 1,800 respondents were asked who they would vote for president if elections were held on the day of the survey.

The survey has a margin of error of plus/minus 2%.

Voters' desire for a presidential candidate who is not corrupt and who cares for the poor are  still the top two reasons for their preferences.

"As in the previous survey, about the same number of voters with a presidential preference says that they opted for their candidate because he/she is not corrupt (26%) as cites his/her caring for the poor (22%). Other reasons cited for preferring a candidate are that he/she can do/is doing/will do something (14%); helps/is helping others (11%); is a good person (10%) and is used to governing/has experience 7%)," Pulse Asia said.

Erap, Noynoy, NP, Gigo react

Commenting on the survey results, Estrada, the biggest gainer, said he sees a continued rise in his ratings until the May 10 polls.

"Tuloy-tuloy na ito hanggang May 10. Siyempre nalalaman ng tao na talagang tatakbo ako. Kasi nung una, pinalabas na magwiwithdraw ako, disqualified ako," Estrada said.

For his part, Aquino said the results showed the public continue to support him and his advocacy for good government.

"Ako po'y nagagalak sa pagpapatunay ng survey na ito na patuloy ang pagbuhos ng suporta mula sa sambayanang Pilipino na naglalayon ng tunay na pagbabago para sa ating bansa. Hindi po ako titigil hangga't maibigay natin ang lideratong malinis at mapapagkatiwalaan," he said.
                                          
Nacionalista Party spokesman Gilbert Remulla said the fact that the survey was conducted during the 24th anniversary celebration of EDSA people power 1 helped Aquino.

"It should also be pointed out that the survey was conducted on the same week that the nation was commemorating EDSA 1. Thus, people were remembering Noynoy's mother Cory. We still have two more months before the May 10 elections. The presidential race is still anybody's ball game," Remulla said.    

Teodoro, on the other hand, said his focus is now on actually meeting voters instead of the surveys. 

"Pulse Asia at saka SWS, medyo hindi na ako nag re-rely diyan e. Kasi exposure sa akin ang pinakaimportante e. Nakita mo naman ang conversion rate ko, napakataas e," he said.

Mar keeps big lead

In the vice-presidential survey, Sen. Manuel 'Mar' Roxas of the Liberal Party still has a double-digit lead over Nationalist People's Coalition's (NPC) Sen. Loren Legarda.

Roxas was the top choice of 43% of respondents while Legarda was preferred by 27%.

Roxas dropped 4 percentage points while Legarda was statistically the same as in the January 2010 survey.

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay got 15% support while Bayani Fernando got 4%.

Administration candidate Edu Manzano was chosen by 2%, the same as in the January survey.

Bangon Pilipinas vice-presidential bet Perfecto Yasay got 1% support, also the same as in the previous survey.