Metro Manila residents prefer to re-elect their incumbent mayors in the coming 2022 elections, a recent survey showed.
An independent and non-commissioned survey conducted by the RP-Mission and Development Foundation Inc. (RPMDinc) showed that registered voters in Quezon City, Pasig City, and San Juan City, will still vote for their respective mayors Joy Belmonte, Vico Sotto, and Francis Zamora against their possible contenders.
In QC, 38 percent of those surveyed selected Belmonte as their preferred mayor while possible contenders broadcast journalist Rafael “Raffy” Tulfo and former Mayor Herbert Bautista got 25 percent and 13 percent, respectively.
Former Congressman Vincent “Bingbong” Crisologo and Congressman Michael “Mike” Defensor who both previously ran for QC mayor ranked fourth (10%) and fifth (8%) in the ranking.
In Pasig City, RPMDinc said it is seeing a “one-on-one” match between Sotto who got 67 percent of the votes, and former Mayor Robert “Bobby” Eusebio who got 28 percent.
Zamora also led the survey in San Juan with 48 percent. His possible contender who also ran against him for mayor last 2019, Janella Ejercito Estrada, got 28 percent.
For Manila, RPMDinc listed Vice Mayor Maria Sheilah“ Honey” Honrado Lacuna and Congressman Manuel “Manny” Lopez as candidates for the mayoral race, citing that incumbent Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso “will no longer run for re-election as he will be running for a higher office.”
Lacuna led the survey with 46 percent, while Lopez received 33 percent of the votes.
The survey was done through face-to-face interviews with 5,000 respondents in eight Metro Manila cities: Quezon City, Pasig, San Juan, Manila, Caloocan, Paranaque, Muntinlupa, and Malabon. Quezon City had the most number of respondents at 1,500.
The cities of Marikina, Mandaluyong, Taguig, Makati, Pasay, Navotas, Las Pinas, and Pateros where re-electionist mayors were perceived to have no contenders were not included in the survey.
In cities where mayors are non-reelectionists like Caloocan, Paranaque, Muntinlupa, and Malabon, familiar names led the race.
Mayor Oscar “Oca” Malapitan’s son Congressman Dale “Along” Malapitan ranked first among possible candidates in Caloocan with 53 percent, followed by Congressman Edgar “Egay” Erice with 36 percent.
In Paranaque and Malabon, kins of incumbent mayors were behind the race.
Former Congressman Gustavo “Gus” Tambunting led the survey in Paranaque at 50 percent while his possible contender Mayor Edwin Olivarez’s brother Congressman Eric Olivarez achieved a 35 percent result.
The brother of outgoing mayor Antolin “Lenlen” Oreta, City Councilor Jose Lorenzo “Enzo” Oreta who got 29 percent was also behind former Congressman Federico “Ricky” Sandoval II with 54 percentage count.
In Muntinlupa, Congressman Rozzano “Ruffy” Biazon (57%) will likely win the mayoral race against former Mayor Aldrin San Pedro (23%) based on the survey.
Meanwhile, RPMDinc said Valenzuela City’s Rex Gatchalian “will run as Congressman in the first district while another Gatchalian will seek the mayoralty position unopposed.”