"KABAYAN STILL AT THE TOP SLOT FOR THE 2010 LEADING PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDERS"

Vice President “KABAYAN” Noli De Castro (31%) is still leading the pack for the 2010 leading presidentiables . Senator Loren Legarda placed second at (28%), and Senator Manny Villar at the third place with (27%) according to the fourth quarter survey results released by SWS. Elections is still fourteen months away and it looks like these three incumbent senators have maintained and improved their standings as the top three recommendees to replace Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after her term expires on June 30, 2009.

Here’s the full release of the SWS Survey:

Fourth Quarter 2008 Social Weather Station Survey:
Noli De Castro, Loren Legarda and Manny Villar are still the top recommendees for 2010.

Social Weather Stations

Vice-President Noli De Castro, Senator Loren Legarda, and Senator Manny Villar are still the people’s top recommended successors to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2010, according to the Fourth Quarter 2008 Social Weather Survey, fielded over November 28-December 1, 2008.

To the survey question, “Sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang Konstitusyon, ang termino ni Pang. Arroyo ay hanggang sa taong 2010 lamang at magkakaroon ng halalan para sa pagka-pangulo sa Mayo 10, 2010. Sinu-sino sa palagay ninyo ang mga magagaling na lider na dapat pumalit kay Pang. Arroyo bilang Presidente? Maaari po kayong magbanggit ng hanggang tatlong sagot.” [Under the present Constitution, the term of Pres. Arroyo is up to 2010 only, and there will be an election for a new President in May 2010. Who do you think are good leaders who should succeed Pres. Arroyo as President? You may give up to three names], 31% named Vice-President De Castro, 28% named Sen. Legarda, and 27% named Sen. Villar.

No list of names was provided to prompt the respondents.

They were followed by Sen. Francis Escudero (19%), Sen. Panfilo Lacson (14%), former Pres. Joseph Estrada (11%), and Sen. Mar Roxas (10%).

The survey found 2% mentioning Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, while a percent mentioned Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos, Sen. Ralph Recto, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, and Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Seven percent could not give an answer, and 12% had no one to recommend.

Compared to the previous quarter, those with an increase in mentions were: Sen. Francis Escudero, by 3 points, Vice-President Noli De Castro, Sen. Loren Legarda, and Mayor Jejomar Binay, by 2 points, and Chairman Bayani Fernando, by 1 point. The question wording has been exactly the same in the past five quarterly surveys shown in Table 1.

The mentions of Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Mar Roxas went down by 3 points, former Pres. Joseph Estrada, by 2 points, and Sen. Manny Villar, by 1 point.

Survey Background

The Fourth Quarter of 2008 Social Weather Survey was conducted over November 28-December 1, 2008 using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±2.5% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, and ±4% for Balance Luzon). The area estimates were weighted by National Statistics Office medium-population projections for 2008 to obtain the national estimates.

The survey item on the recommended leaders to succeed Pres. Arroyo is not commissioned, but is done on SWS’s own initiative and released as a public service, with first printing rights assigned to BusinessWorld.

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