Villar ties with Noynoy in latest Pulse Asia survey

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 06:07 PM Merck Maguddayao

Mainstream presidential candidates Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of the Liberal Party and Senator Manny Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP) are now locked in a statistical tie in the latest nationwide Pulse Asia Survey released today.

The January 22-26 survey bared that Aquino slid to 37 percent—an eight percentage point drop—while Villar jumped 12 percentage points higher to 35 percent. The survey, which was conducted on 1,800 respondents, has a two percent margin of error.

Meanwhile, ex-President Joseph Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) suffered the same fate as Aquino's, dipping seven percentage points down to 12 percent. He is followed by administration bet Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. (5 percent), Eddie Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas (2 percent), Senator Richard Gordon of Bagumbayan (1 percent), independent Senator Jamby Madrigal (0.5 percent), John Carlos delos Reyes of Ang Kapatiran (0.3 percent), Vitaliano Acosta of Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (0.2), and independent candidate Nicanor Perlas (0.05 percent).

Meanwhile, Aquino's running mate Senator Mar Roxas leads the vice-presidential survey with 47 percent, an eight percentage point increase from the last Pulse Asia survey while Villar's partner Senator Loren Legarda is nine percentage points down to 28 percent. Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay of PMP remained at third with 13 percent followed by Bayani Fernando of Bagumbayan and administration candidate Edu Manzano (2 percent); Perfecto Yasay of Bangon Pilipinas (1 percent); Jay Sonza of Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (0.2 percent); and Ang Kapatiran's Dominador Chipeco (0.07 percent).

During the time period of the survey, the C-5 road extension controversy sparked, with the Senate Committee of the Whole accusing Villar of double insertion in its findings. However, Pulse Asia president Ronald Holmes said in Abs-cbnnews.com that response on the said issue will be reflected in the next survey due on the first week of February.

Holmes also said that Villar's improvement in the survey may be attributed to a “more sustained” marketing campaign, adding that Villar's advertisements are six times more frequently aired than the ads of other candidates. Villar's TV commercial features the jingle depicting his “impoverished” past and endorsements from comedy icons Dolphy and Michael V.

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