DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte once again topped Filipinos’ choice for President in 2022, with 20 percent of the vote, according to the latest survey of Pulse Asia, in a poll that reflected for the most part a lot of regional biases and preferences.
She was followed by former senator Bongbong Marcos at 15 percent, closely trailed by Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso at 13 percent; and boxing icon and senator Manny Pacquiao at 12 percent.
At fifth is Sen. Grace Poe, 9 percent; Vice President Leni Robredo at 8 percent; Sen. Panfilo Lacson at 6 percent; and Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano at 4 percent.
Across regions, Duterte took a commanding 47 percent share of the vote in Mindanao, while Marcos—known to have a strong base in Luzon, took 28 percent in NCR and 20 percent in Balance Luzon.
Moreno took 19 percent in NCR and 16 percent in Balance Luzon; while Pacquiao, a southpaw from Sarangani, took 21 percent in Visayas and 15 percent in Mindanao.
Former senator Sonny Trillanes, who has offered himself as a candidate of the united opposition should Vice President Leni Robredo refuse to run for president, placed 10th, with 1 percent.
VP choices
Senate President Vicente Sotto III topped the vice-presidential run, with 25 percent vote share nationwide, versus 14 percent of President Duterte, who has been nominated by the Cusi wing of PDP Laban as its VP bet.
However, in Mindanao, Duterte trounced Sotto with 30 percent versus Sotto’s 10; the NCR pulse mirrored the reverse, going for Sotto with 30 percent versus Duterte’s 13 percent.
Moreno ranked third in the VP race with 12 percent but got a commanding 17 percent in NCR and 14 percent in BL and in Visayas; with only 5 percent in Mindanao.
Marcos scored a uniform 12 percent nationwide and across all regions – NCR, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The “southern bias” was also apparent in the case of Manny Pacquiao, who got only 3 percent in NCR and 6 percent in Balance Luzon, but got 11 and 9 percent in Visayas and Mindanao, respectively.
The rest of the names listed by Pulse Asia as choices for VP, from sixth to 10th are Sen.Christopher Go, at 7 percent nationwide; Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano at 6 percent; celebrity Willie Revillame at 4 percent; former senator Sonny Trillanes at 2 percent; and Sen. Sonny Angara at 2 percent.
Meanwhile, the Cusi wing of PDP Laban said they were unfazed by the Pulse survey, even though Sotto topped Duterte, because they still have time to inform the people of the “legacies” of his administration in a bid to court voters for his VP run.
“This survey, together with the many other surveys conducted and to be conducted in the future, will serve as our guideposts for our strategy once the campaign period starts.
Again, we will continue on highlighting President Duterte’s success in the campaign against drugs, criminality, corruption, and terrorism.
We will also direct the attention of the Filipino voters to the transformation of travel and mobility in the last 5 years, even with the pandemic, not just in Metro Manila but also in remote provinces,” said spokesman Melvin Matibag.
The “Build, Build, Build” program of President Duterte “will be one of his greatest legacies marking major investments in the development of roads, highways, bridges, airports, and seaports. And more importantly, the fast-tracking of the development of the mass transit systems in Metro Manila and Luzon. We will harp on our achievements and our strengths because these are where our political opponents are lacking,” Matibag added.
