Former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. emerged as the top pick among the presidential candidates in the 2022 elections, based on a non-commissioned Pulse Asia survey conducted from Dec. 1 to 6, 2021.
The respondents were particularly asked, "Of the people on this list, whom would you vote for as President of the Philippines if the May 2022 elections were held today and they were candidates?"
In the survey results released by Pulse Asia on Wednesday, Dec. 22, it found 53 percent of Filipinos expressing support for the presidential bid of Marcos in the 2022 national and local elections.
Support for Marcos was highest among those in Mindanao with 64 percent, followed by Metro Manila with 61 percent.
Fifty-one percent and 42 percent of those in the Balance Luzon and Metro Manila, respectively, also expressed their support for the former senator.
Coming at 2nd place was Vice President Leni Robredo with 20 percent of the voter preference.
Twenty-five percent of the respondents in the Visayas and 24 percent in the Balance Luzon preferred Robredo to be the next president of the Philippines.
Fourteen percent of the respondents in Metro Manila and 10 percent in Mindanao also expressed support for Robredo's presidential bid.
Meanwhile, Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso and Senator Manny Pacquiao tied at 3rd place, each with 8 percent of the voter preference.
Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson came in 4th with 6 percent of the respondents.
The other candidates include Armed Forces of the Philippines Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. (0.01 percent), labor leader Leody De Guzman (0.004 percent), and former Defense chief Norberto Gonzales (zero percent) who all got below 1 percent of the voter preference.
During the same survey period, the respondents were asked to name their second choice for president in case their first choice does not continue his or her candidacy.
Moreno was the top pick with 23 percent, followed by Lacson (17 percent), Robredo (14 percent), Pacquiao (11 percent), and Marcos (11 percent).
Meanwhile, De Guzman, Gonzales, and Parlade got 0.2 percent each.
The latest Pulse Asia survey had 2,400 respondents 18 years old and above.