Escudero wins UP mock poll; Villar places 2nd

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA - Sen. Francis Escudero on Thursday topped a mock poll conducted by students from the University of the Philippines Diliman campus.

Dubbed the "Boto ng Iskolar ng Bayan", the campus-wide mock election was conducted by the Alpha Sigma fraternity last September 8 to 15. A total of 3,156 from 15 colleges in UP Diliman participated in the election.

Escudero, who received his law degree at the UP College of Law, got 690 or 21 percent of the total votes. He gained the most votes in all except in the UP College of Business Administration where Sen. Manuel Villar graduated. Villar placed second in the mock poll with 365 or 11.6 percent of the votes.

Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III placed third in the mock poll with 278 or 8.8 percent of the votes.

The complete results of the UP mock elections is as follows:

1. Sen Francis Escudero - 690 or 21.9%

2. Sen. Manny Villar - 365 or 11.6%

3. Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III - 278 or 8.8%

4. Sen. Jamby Madrigal - 258 or 8.2%

5. Sen. Manuel Roxas - 251 or 8%

6. Sen. Loren Legarda - 237 or 7.9%

7. MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando - 226 or 7.2%

8. Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay - 162 or 5.1%

9. Sen. Richard Gordon - 151 or 4.8%

10. Vice President Noli De Castro - 107 or 3.4%

11. Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio - 53 or 1.7%

12. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro - 52 or 1.6%

13. Former president Joseph Estrada - 35 or 1.1%

14. Bro. Eddie Villanueva - 21 or .07%

15. Sen. Panfilo Lacson - 3 or .09%

16. Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV - 1 or .03%

A total of 267 students or 8.5 percent of the students abstained from the mock election.

Officials of the Alpha Sigma fraternity said the mock poll is the first to be conducted by the fraternity ahead of the 2010 elections.

Fraternity spokesman Simon Salinas said the mock poll is meant to spread awareness of the importance of every vote during the country's electoral exercise.

Project head Marc Aguimatang said Escudero could win big among youth voters next year because of his age and general advocacies for the youth.

Alpha Sigma head Jayson Santiago, however, said the other candidates could also appeal to youth voters since the national election is still eight months away.

He said candidates who sincerely want to engage the youth should prioritize social issues such as quality and free education, accountability and transparency in governance, agrarian reform and reproductive health.

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Noynoy tops SWS survey in vote-rich Luzon areas

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

MANILA - This is the result of the first presidential survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations that includes Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

The survey was taken between Sept. 5 and 6 and was commissioned by a number of private individuals, including some members of the business community.

It was not a national survey but it covers Metro Manila, Pangasinan, Region 3 and Region 4A, an area that covers an estimated 40 percent of registered voters.

10 percent of the respondents belonged to the A, B and C classes, or the wealthy and middle class, while 90 percent belong to the D and E classes, or the poor.

Despite having declared his candidacy after the survey, a whopping 50 percent of respondents said they would vote for Aquino, followed by 14 percent who said they would vote for Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar.

Statistically tied with Villar for second place is former president Joseph Estrada with 13 percent. Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero had 12 percent and vice president Noli de Castro came in last with 7 percent.

Liberal Party leaders expected Aquino to benefit from public sympathy over the death of his mother, former President Corazon Aquino, but were surprised by how high his numbers are.

With 8 months to go before the election and his relatively late entry into the race Aquino is still putting his campaign together, but already he seems to have has become the front runner.

However, in an election season that is becoming full of surprises, the challenge is to keep those sky high numbers for falling back to earth.

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