Poll: Villar edges out Noynoy in one-on-one fight

MANILA, Philippines – With less than four months to go before the May 10 presidential elections, Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. has overtaken his main rival Sen. Benigno Aquino III by one percentage point in a “one-on-one’ rider survey dished out by Pulse Asia taken from Jan. 22 to 26.

Villar garnered 46 percent nationwide while Aquino got 45 percent from the 1,800 respondents who answered the survey question: “If the following are the ones who became candidates for president, whom would you vote for if the national elections of 2010 were held today?”

Although the data still place Villar in a statistical tie with Aquino, the NP standard-bearer believes that this could be the reason why there is an apparent attempt to destroy his credibility by bringing up false stories about a meeting he supposedly had with First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Villar has vehemently denied accusations coming from the camp of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who has fled the country in anticipation of the warrant of arrest issued by a Manila court against him in connection with the Dacer-Corbito double murder case.

The “rider survey” on a one-on-one fight between Villar and Aquino was gathered in the same period wherein Aquino and Villar were considered “statistically tied” for the presidency with Aquino registering 37 percent of voter preference and Villar, 35 percent.

With 1,800 poll respondents, the rider survey showed that Villar commanded a lead in the Visayas and Mindanao region where he got 47 and 50 percentage points respectively.  Aquino garnered 46 points in the Visayas and 44 percent in Mindanao.

The only son of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. maintained a one point lead over Villar in Luzon and seven points (48-41) in the National Capital Region.

Aquino’s bid got a boost from the ABC classes with 52 percent while Villar is far below at 37 percent.

For class D, Aquino remains in the lead with 47 percent and Villar, 44 percent.

Villar, whose campaign slogan focuses on moving the country out of poverty, enjoys a nine percentage point-lead in Class E with 50 percent compared to Aquino’s 41 percent.

The rider survey was requested from Pulse Asia by the Villar camp in a bid to determine how close their standard-bearer is closing in on Aquino.

Compared to the Pulse Asia survey last Oct. 22-30, this is a big leap for Villar because his standing then was 32 percent as opposed to Aquino’s 62 percent.

The latest survey shows Villar cutting almost all of Aquino’s leads in the Oct. 22-30, 2009 survey.

In the earlier poll, Aquino obtained 69 percent rating in the NCR, 58 percent in Luzon, 64 percent in Visayas and 65 percent in Mindanao.

In Class ABC, Aquino cornered 67 percent; Class D, 60 percent and Class E, 66 percent.

Villar, on the other hand, only got 24 percent in NCR, 33 percent in Luzon, 32 percent in Visayas and 33 percent in Mindanao.

He got only 22 in Class ABC, 34 percent in Class D and 30 percent in Class E.

Villar was recently in Nueva Vizcaya to grace the opening of the Cagayan Valley Regional Athletic Association meet.

Here he again stressed that a once poor man like him can also run for president of the country. –-Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star) with Charlie Lagasca