MANILA - Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is the 2022 presidential candidate preferred by majority of "Millennial" and "Gen Z" voters, based on the latest Pulse Asia survey.

Ana Maria Tabunda, Research Director of Pulse Asia, told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo on Monday night that most of the February survey respondents who prefer Marcos, son and namesake of the late dictator, to be the next leader of the country were aged between 18 and 44.

Marcos Jr. topped anew the pollster's presidential preference survey, held Feb. 18-23, with 60 percent of 2,400 respondents saying they would vote for him if the elections were held during that period. Vice President Leni Robredo trails at second place with 15 percent.

• READ: Bongbong, Sara lead Pulse Asia's Feb. 2022 poll for May's presidential, VP race

"Mataas din naman doon sa mas nakakatanda, pero mas mataas din sa mga mas nakababata," Tabunda said of Marcos Jr.'s supporters in terms of age groups.

Broken down, the 64-year-old presidential aspirant has the backing of the following, based on the survey:

• - 71 percent of those aged 18-24
• - 63 percent of those aged 25-34
• - 63 percent of those aged 35-44

From the 45-54, 55-64, and 65-and-up age groups, Marcos Jr. also enjoys the support of the majority, at 54 to 55 percent.

Tabunda said the high support Marcos Jr. is getting from the 18-44 age group could be because these people are more exposed to social media.

"Maraming information na pinagaganda talaga yung imahe ni BBM (Marcos) sa social media," she said.

• READ: Marcos 'has captured imagination' of many voters, says Pulse Asia

Some groups say propagandists of Marcos Jr. are using social media to sanitize history, leading to the present generation's "renewed appreciation" of the senior Marcos and support for his son in alliance with Sara Duterte-Carpio, the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Public records show the older Marcos' administration, from 1965 to 1986, embezzled as much as $10 billion and committed thousands of rights abuses including torture and killings.

• The best of times? Data debunk Marcos’s economic ‘golden years’

Victims of the Marcos administration's atrocities during its martial law era are unhappy about the popularity of Marcos, Jr., as well as the lower support for Robredo.

Young voters are the "dominant users" of the internet that make them "susceptible or vulnerable to alternative or revisionist history that is pushed on social media platforms, like Facebook and YouTube," said political strategist Victor Andres Manhit of the Philippine Stratbase Consultancy Inc.

This adds to the fact that half of the voters "have no recollection" of martial law, he said, in that a 54-year-old voter was barely an adult in 1986.

These alternative "narratives" project Marcos Jr. to be the most qualified candidate, saying that the martial law era from 1972 to 1981 saw the best of the Philippine economy and that reports on the era by mainstream media are biased, Manhit said, adding that the Marcos-Duterte-Carpio tandem is perceived as strong and unstoppable.

Manhit points to social media as shaping public perception of Marcos Jr. in this election, while the 2016 presidential race gave a "glimpse" of the internet's power when Duterte's campaign relied on bloggers and influencers.

• Marcos Jr. leads presidency race, backed by young and mid-aged

According to the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group, more than half or 52 percent of the 65.7 million registered voters in the May 9 elections are aged between 18 and 39.

Voters aged 60 and above number about 10.3 million.

• READ: #Halalan2022: More than half of registered voters are 18-39 years old, research shows

Marcos has consistently topped pre-election surveys conducted by Pulse Asia since December last year.

Analysts have explained that survey results could be considered as "snapshots" of people's sentiments in a certain period.

• READ: Pacquiao laughs off 'zero' NCR support in Pulse Asia survey
• READ: Can Robredo still catch up in surveys? Pulse Asia says possible, but difficult

- with report from Kyodo News

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