If the May 9 elections were held today, only nine party-list groups would have the support of 2 percent of Filipino voters, according to the Pulse Asia Research's Pulso ng Bayan pre-electoral survey conducted from Jan. 19 to 24.
Pulse Asia asked 2,400 respondents nationwide to choose one party-list group that they will vote for as they were shown the list of 177 party-list groups participating in the May 2022 polls.
In the survey results released on Sunday, Feb. 13, Pulse Asia said the groups that obtained voter preferences of at least 2 percent of the total number of votes cast for the party-list elections were ACT-CIS (10.4 percent), Ako Bicol (5.6 percent), 4Ps (4.3 percent), Senior Citizens Partylist (3.3 percent), Malasakit@Bayanihan (3.3 percent), Magsasaka (2.3 percent), An Waray (2.3 percent), Gabriela (2.1 percent), and Kabayan (2.1 percent).
"The said level of support enables the following groups to surpass the 2 percent voter preference they need to secure at least one seat at the House of Representatives in the first round of seat allocation as stated in the Feb. 17, 2017 resolution issued by the Supreme Court," Pulse Asia pointed out.
Meanwhile, it found 17.5 percent of likely voters still do not have a preferred party-list group.
5 party-list groups may earn 3 seats in Congress
Following the procedure for allocating the maximum number of 63 seats for party-list representatives, Pulse Asia said that five party-list groups would earn additional congressional seats.
"This would enable them to obtain three seats in the House of Representatives, the maximum number of seats a party-list group can win in the party-list elections. These are ACT-CIS, Ako Bicol, 4PS, Senior Citizens’ Partylist, and Malasakit@Bayanihan," it noted.
"Furthermore, following the procedure for allocating the maximum number of 59 seats for party-list representatives described in the said resolution, four party-list groups each obtain three seats in the Lower House, the maximum number of seats that any group can win in the party-list elections," it said.
These groups are Bayan Muna, Ako Bicol, Magkakasama sa Sakahan (Magsasaka), and ACT-CIS.
6 out of 10 voters aware of party-list system
Pulse Asia noted that almost two-thirds of likely voters or 62 percent have heard, read, and/or watched something about the party-list system.
Awareness is reported by majorities in each geographic area and socio-economic class (52 percent to 74 percent and 59 percent to 75 percent, respectively).
"Relatively higher levels of awareness are posted in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao (67 percent to 74 percent) than in the rest of Luzon (52 percent) and in Classes C and E (73 percent to 75 percent) compared to Class D (59 percent).