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MANILA, Philippines – Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the late dictator’s son, kept his lead in the 2022 presidential race, while closest rival Vice President Leni Robredo saw her numbers rising by 9 percentage points, according to the results of a Pulse Asia Research, Incorporated survey on voters’ preference conducted late March 2022.

The survey, which sampled 2,400 adults 18 years old and above, was held from March 17 to 21, and made public on Wednesday, April 6.

The latest Pulse survey showed that if elections were held during the survey period, 56% of voters would pick Marcos Jr. as president – a 4-point drop from his February 2022 numbers.

Robredo’s voter preference rating jumped by 9 percentage points, or to 24% from 15% in February.

Trailing Marcos Jr. and Robredo were Manila Mayor Isko Moreno (8%), Senator Manny Pacquiao (6%), and Senator Ping Lacson (2%). Both Domagoso and Pacquiao went down 2 percentage points, while Lacson’s number stayed the same. Five presidential bets in the survey – Faisal Mangondato, Ernesto Abella, Jose Montemayor, Leody de Guzman, and Norberto Gonzales – all got less than 1% each in the survey.

Marcos Jr saw his numbers drop across four locations – Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao – even as he kept his lead. The Uniteam bet saw his numbers drop by 2 percentage points in the National Capital Region, 4 percentage points in Balance Luzon, 5 percentage points in the Visayas, and 6 percentage points in Mindanao.

Robredo, meanwhile, saw her numbers rise dramatically in all locations, save for the National Capital Region. She rose by 14 percentage points in Balance Luzon, 9 points in Visayas, and 9 points in Mindanao. In NCR, her preference numbers was 1 percentage point lower.

The nationwide survey has a ± 2% error margin at the 95% confidence level, while subnational estimates for each of the geographic areas covered in the survey (i.e., Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) have a ± 4% error margin, also at 95% confidence level, Pulse Asia said.

In most of March, Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Sara Duterte, seemed to have buckled down on campaigning in Luzon. It was also in March when Robredo and her running mate Senator Kiko Pangilinan continued to draw huge crowds in campaign rallies across the country, even in areas considered voting bailiwicks of their rivals.

On March 20 or a day before the final day of the survey period, over 100,000 people gathered in Pasig City for the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem, their biggest campaign sortie to date.

The Robredo camp attributed the higher numbers of the Vice President to their ground campaign.

“The survey numbers are starting to reflect what we have been seeing on the ground all along: the massive crowds, the fierce passion, the untiring commitment of Filipinos from all walks of life, coming together to rally behind Leni Robredo’s bid for the Presidency,” Barry Gutierrez said in a statement. “What we are seeing now is the turning of the tide.” – Rappler.com