Senatorial candidate Herbert Bautista refuses to "chill out" despite getting to within striking distance of the so-called "winners' circle" in the Senate race before the campaign period even began.

“I am grateful to the people for giving me a push in my campaign to bring real change to our country,” Bautista said in a statement Monday, Feb. 14.

A face-to-face survey conducted by Pulse Asia from Jan. 19 to 24 showed Bautista in the 14th to 16th rank in the 12-seat race to fill half of the Senate on election day, May 9, 2022.

“What this tells me is I should work harder,” said Bautista, who is vying for a Senate seat under the ticket of fronruning presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Bautista said the results of the survey were encouraging given the fact that he has not yet visited areas with high voting populations in his sorties. The campaign period for bets running for national positions only began last Feb. 8, it can be recalled.

According to Pulse Asia, at least 53 percent of survey respondents have already made up their minds on who to vote for in the Senate race. This means 47 percent or nearly half of Filipinos has yet to decide who to vote for among more than 64 candidates for senator.

The independent pollster said the results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The former movie star-turned-astute poltiiciian said the survey results were likely to still change in the coming weeks as more and more of his supporters are mobilized to different areas in the country.

Bautista served as Quezon City mayor for three terms--a total of nine years--during which he carried the city's economy to unprecedented heights under his watch.

His platform is focused on "Internet reforms, Livelihood for all and Youth protection and welfare", or ILY for short.