(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Two-in-five voters in the Philippines want to see Mar Roxas as the country’s next vice-president, according to a poll by Pulse Asia. 42 per cent of respondents would support Roxas—the running mate of presidential contender Benigno Aquino III—in this year’s ballot.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Two-in-five voters in the Philippines want to see Mar Roxas as the country’s next vice-president, according to a poll by Pulse Asia. 42 per cent of respondents would support Roxas—the running mate of presidential contender Benigno Aquino III—in this year’s ballot.
Senator Loren Legarda is second with 27 per cent, followed by Makati city mayor Jejomar Binay with 13 per cent. Support is much lower for current secretary of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Bayani Fernando, actor Eduardo Manzano, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Perfecto Yasay, television host Jose Sonza, and anti-abortion activist Dominador Chipeco.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took over as president in January 2001, following Joseph Estrada’s resignation. Arroyo won a six-year term in the June 2004 presidential election, garnering 39.99 per cent of all cast ballots. Noli de Castro—running as Arroyo’s running mate, but not as part of a single ticket—received 49.79 per cent of all cast ballots in the vice-presidential election, defeating Legarda.
In May 2007, voters in the Philippines renewed the House of Representatives and one-half of the Senate. Final results gave seven of the 12 upper house seats at stake to Genuine Opposition (GO) candidates, followed by the pro-government Team Unity (TU) with three, and two independents.
In 1986, Corazon Aquino—the widow of murdered opposition leader Benigno Aquino—took over as president when long-time dictator Ferdinand Marcos was forced to flee to Hawaii. Aquino accused Marcos of stealing a presidential election, and led a series of massive demonstrations that came to be known as "People Power" in order to topple the regime. Aquino ended her presidency on a high note and remained an extremely popular figure in the country, until her death in August 2009.
Aquino’s death ignited a sudden interest in her son Aquino III becoming a presidential candidate. A grass-roots movement urged him to run and the senator officially launched his bid as a Liberal Party (PLP) candidate in September.
On Mar. 15, Legarda challenged Roxas to a debate, saying, "If Mar Roxas wants to prove that he’s more fit than I am to be vice-president, he should be ready to debate with me on issues. (…) [Black propaganda] is one of the oldest tricks in the book—making your opponent look bad so that you look good in comparison. But that’s not going to make him any good as a vice-president."
The presidential election is scheduled for May 10. Arroyo is ineligible for a consecutive term in office.
Polling Data
If the coming 2010 elections were held today, whom would you vote for as vice-president?
|
Feb. 2010
|
Jan. 2010
|
|
|
Mar Roxas
|
43%
|
47%
|
|
Loren Legarda
|
27%
|
28%
|
|
Jejomar Binay
|
15%
|
13%
|
|
Bayani Fernando
|
4%
|
2%
|
|
Eduardo Manzano
|
2%
|
2%
|
|
Perfecto Yasay
|
1%
|
1%
|
|
Jose Sonza
|
1%
|
0.2%
|
|
Dominador Chipeco
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
|
Undecided / Other
|
7%
|
7%
|
Source: Pulse Asia
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,800 Filipino adults, conducted from Feb. 21 to Feb. 25, 2010. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
