Five women—three incumbent senators, a member of the House of Representatives and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio—are leading in the list of possible winners for the Senate in the May 2019 midterm elections.
In the latest Pulse Asia survey report released Saturday, incumbent Senator Grace Poe topped the list of possible winners—if the May elections were held this month.
The survey results also showed that among the 17 probable winners, 13 were either incumbent or former members of Congress.
The survey showed that Poe continued to enjoy the top spot with her voter preference of 70.1 percent, translating to a statistical ranking of solo 1st place.
“Only 3.6 percent of Filipinos do not support any of the probable senatorial bets included in this survey probe, refuse to name their preferred senatorial candidates, or still do not know whom they will vote for in May 2019,” the Pulse Asia Research Inc. reported.
Landing in 2nd to 3rd places was incumbent Senator Cynthia Villar (57.7 percent) while Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano occupied 2nd to 4th places (54.4 percent).
Close behind them was also incumbent Senator Nancy Binay with a statistical ranking of 3rd to 4th places (50.6 percent).
Completing the top half of the probable winners were Duterte-Carpio (39.5 percent, 5th to 6th places), incumbent Senator Edgardo Angara, Jr. (37.1 percent, 5th to 7th places), and former senator Jinggoy Estrada (34.6 percent, 6th to 10th places).
Sharing 7th to 11th places were Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos (32.6 percent), incumbent Senator Aquilino Pimentel III (32.4 percent), and former senator Lito Lapid (32.2 percent).
Former senator Sergio Osmeña found himself in 8th to 17th places (29.8 percent).
Completing the list of probable winners were six personalities who were tied at 11th to 17th places—former senator Manuel Roxas (27.7 percent), actor Robin Padilla (27.4 percent), detained former senator Ramon Revilla, Jr. (27.4 percent), broadcaster Ramon Tulfo (27.0 percent), Bureau of Corrections chief Ronald dela Rosa (27.0 percent), and incumbent Senator Jose Victor Ejercito (26.7 percent).
In a statement, Poe said “We are humbled and grateful for the continued support of our people. It is uplifting that women are being recognized as effective, decisive and compassionate leaders.”
“However, the more important numbers which should concern us today are inflation, prices of goods, employment, fuel prices, and the damage caused by Ompong. Let us focus on clear and present challenges,” she said.
Poe, daughter of the late “King of Action Movie” and losing 2004 presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., topped the list of winners in the May 2013 senatorial race.
With a record breaking 20,337,327 votes, Poe, who was the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board chairperson, surpassed the election record of Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. who topped the 2010 senatorial race with 19,513,521 votes.
The number of votes for Poe in 2013 was also the biggest number registered for a single candidate in Philippine election history.
Poe ran for president with Senator Francis Escudero as running mate in the 2016 presidential elections but lost to then Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte’s daughter Sara, now an incumbent mayor of Davao, was among the top contenders in the race but she said earlier she would not run for senator in the 2019 midterm elections.
“I am not running for the Senate,” she said during the recent oath-taking of 5,000 new members of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago, a regional political party she heads.
“We just wanted to create a strong Region 11. We did not foresee this growing interest of other politicians from other regions,” she added.
President Duterte also said recently his daughter would not run for a national post in the 2019 polls as he expressed support for a bill prohibiting the establishment of political dynasties.
“I’m okay with it, there is no problem. My daughter, Inday, I can tell you I know her. She won’t run for [a] national [post],” the Chief Executive had said.
The presidential daughter was also included in the top five contenders for senators in the Pulse Asia’s survey released last July.
Meanwhile, the office of Senator Benigno Paolo Aquino IV issued a statement which stated “the first time two Aquinos were included in the Pulse Asia Survey resulted in a divided choice for voters, leading to a drop for Senator Bam Aquino.”
“From being the only opposition candidate among the top 12 in past surveys, Aquino dropped from the Magic 12 in the recent survey conducted from Sept. 1 to 7,” it stated.
“His cousin, actress Kris Aquino, was recently included in the survey and ranked similarly to Senator Bam.”
