Presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. and Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio are leading the way for President and Vice President in the 2022 May national elections based on a recent survey conducted by a state university.
According to the 'Pulso ni PSU' survey among students of Pangasinan State University (PSU), Marcos and Duterte-Carpio were the top choices for President and Vice President, respectively.
A total of 16,837 randomly selected respondents from various PSU campuses in Pangasinan participated in the three-day survey which began November 4.
The survey's sample size represented almost 56 percent of PSU's total student population.
Marcos garnered 64.96 percent or 10,938 of the total votes to emerge as top choice in the Presidential preference survey. The former lawmaker was followed by Vice President Leni Robredo with 9.41% or 1,585 votes, and Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko" Moreno with 3.44% or 580 votes.
The PSU data, based on report analysis and interpretation, showed Marcos winning the Presidency via "a landslide victory" if the elections were held during the said survey period.
Senators Manny Pacquiao, Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, and Grace Poe along with Duterte-Carpio were the other Presidential candidates included in the survey. Except for Poe, all got less than one percent of the votes with 1.28 percent or 215 votes.
Marcos, who advocates a unifying style of leadership, is admired for his humility amid moves to thwart his candidacy.
Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio led the vice president survey with 31.03 percent or 5,224 votes. Trailing her are Poe with 10.50 percent or 1,768 votes, and Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III with 9.25 percent or 1,558 votes.
The Vice Presidential survey data showed that 16.61 percent of the respondents were undecided on who to vote for as Vice President among the names given while 12.56 percent said that their choice was not on the survey's list.
The said figures mean that 29.17 percent of the respondents had no clear candidate to vote for in the Vice Presidential race.
The survey also showed that 83.5 percent or 14,060 of the respondents prefer a candidate who was Maka-kalikasan (Nature lover), Makabayan (Patriotic), Maka-Diyos (pro-God), Makatao (Humane), Matalino (Intelligent), and Mahusay (Capable).
The majority of the respondents, or 47.92 percent, meanwhile, want the government to address the health and COVID-19 pandemic problems.
PSU has campuses in Alaminos City, Asingan, Bayambang, Binmaley, Infanta, Lingayen, San Carlos City, Santa Maria and Urdaneta City. (Melvin Sarangay)