Then Special Assistant to the President Christopher "Bong" Go is sworn in as a new member of administration coalition Hugpong ng Pagbabago at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City, August 17, 2018. Handout
Duterte allies ‘Bato’, Tolentino also big gainers in February
MANILA (3rd UPDATE) - Former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go improved his standing anew in the latest senatorial survey of major pollster Pulse Asia.
In the survey taken on Feb. 24 to 28, Go was tied for the 3rd to 5th spot with reelectionist Sen. Sonny Angara.
Go was at the 6th-12th spot in the January survey, his first time to enter the pollster's winners' circle.
Go, who enjoys strong support from his long-time boss, President Rodrigo Duterte, surged to 53 percent, from 44.7 percent in Pulse Asia’s January survey, a gain of 8 percentage points.
“Muli po, maraming salamat sa aking mga supporters na naniniwala sa aking kakayahan at katapatan maglingkod karugtong ng aking hangarin na mag-serbisyo sa Pilipino. Nakakataba po ng puso ang inyong pagtitiwala,” Go said in a statement.
(Thank you to my supporters who believe in my capacity and ability to serve the Filipino people. Your trust fills my heart.)
Reelectionist Senators Grace Poe and Cynthia Villar nabbed the solo first and second spots in the survey, respectively.
Former Senator Lito Lapid, meanwhile, landed in the 3rd-7th spot.
Another close ally of the President, former police chief Ronald dela Rosa, also experienced a jump in his numbers, placing 5th-8th with 44.6 percent support, from the 11th-16th spot with 36.9 percent voting for him in the January survey, up 7 percentage points.
Former Presidential Political Adviser Francis Tolentino also barged into the list of candidates with a statistical chance of winning, landing in the 11th-15th spot with 32.1 percent support, higher compared to the January survey where he landed in the 17th-18th spot with 21.4 percent support, a jump of nearly 11 percentage points.
However, reelectionist Sen. Koko Pimentel, another key Duterte ally, slid to 9th-14th spot (35.6 percent support), from the 5th-11th spot (45.5 percent support) in January, a decrease of nearly 10 percentage points.
Following Poe, Villar and Go are Angara, Lapid, Taguig Rep. Pia Cayetano, Dela Rosa, Sen. Nancy Binay, former Interior Sec. Mar Roxas, former Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, and Tolentino.
Pulse Asia said these 14 candidates have a statistical chance of making it to the winners’ circle if the elections were conducted at the time the survey was taken or just 2 weeks after the start of the national campaign period.
Only Roxas made it to the top 14 among the members of the opposition slate Otso Diretso.
Meanwhile, only Maguindanao Rep. Dong Mangudadatu did not make it to the winners' circle among the members of the ruling party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino - Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
According to the survey, 37 percent of registered voters have a complete senatorial slate for the May 13 midterm elections.
The nationwide survey has a sample of 1,800 “likely voters 18 years old and above”, and ± 2.3 percent error margin at 95% confidence level.
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