* nd a ere bat Comey ree yee eed LIBERAL PARTY (LP) standard ern bearer Senator Benigno Simeon | Nineeen Lar eee Place 7 - ‘i was Nationalista Noynoy” C. Aquino Ill currently isnuel "Manny" B. Vilar I, who got 27%, leads the pack of’presidentiables” shite in third with 16% was former President looking to succeed Gloria joseph “Erap” M. Ejercito Estrada of the Macapagal-Arroyo next year,a So- Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, cial Weather Stations (SWS) survey The Dec pec. 54 Sn eine ages ae ing face- vi adults commissioned by BusinessWorld vcnwide, and used an error of showed. 22.2%, The question asked was: “Sa nga The nationwide poll — staged after the sumusunod na pangalan sa listahang it, sino Dec. 1 deadline for the filing of certificates of po ang malamang ninyong iboboto bilang candidacy but before the Commission on Presidente ng Pilipinas, kung ang eleksyon ay Elections (Comelec) began trimming the of- gaganapin ngayon? (Among the names found ficial list last Dec. 15 — had Mr. Aquino se- on this list, who will you probably vote for asPresident of the Philippines, if the elections were held today?)” Filipinos will troop to polling stations on May 10 next year to choose leaders from the national to local levels, It will be the first time that the elections will be automated, with the winners expected to be named a few days, in- stead around a month, later. The respondents were asked to choose froma Business World- approved list of 11 can- didates — trimmed from the 99 who had of- ficially notified the poll body of their presi dential aspirations, The list was in alphabeti cal order and included nicknames, as practiced by the Comelec on election day. ‘Abaun BET 15 FOURTH Occupying fourth place in the BW-SWS poll was former Defense Secretary “Gibo” C, Teodoro, Ir of the admit party Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino- Christian-Muslim Democrats (Lakas-Kampi- CMD), who scored 4.6%. Fifth place, with 1.1%, went to Jesus Is Lord Movement leader Bro, Eduardo “Eddie” G. Villanueva who is ner of the Bangon Pi Rounding out the list of 11 were: + Senator Richard “Dick” J. Gordon of the Bagumbayan-New Volunteers for a Philip- pines party, 0.996; \dependent candidate Senator Ma, Ana Consuelo "Jamby” A. S. Madrigal, 0.296; + lawyer Oliver“Oli" ©, Lozano (independ ent), 0.1%; + former Manila Rep, Mark “MJ” Jimenez (aka Mario B. Crespo, independent), 0.1%; * Olongapo City councilor john Carlos “JC” G. delos Reyes of the Ang Kapatiran Party; 0.196; and + environmentalist-activist Jesus Nicanor “Nick” P. Perlas III {independent), 0.03%, Those who did not give answers or were undecided comprised 3.1%. Messrs. Jimenez and Perlas were last week climinated from the presidential contest by the Comelec, which cited their lack of resources and machinery. The poll body's list of eight “presidentiables” can be trimmed further, Comelec officials have said, given disqualifi- cation petitions against several candidates. CANDIDATES COMMENT Asked to comment on the results, Mr. Aquino said the survey was a “consistent in- dicative that there was a solid base of people who want change.” President, S872fom S51 ieee “People are rea.ly seeing that our campaign isnot personality-based.” said Mr. Aquino, the |) only son of former President Corazon “Cory” C. Aquino and slain senator Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino, Jr., in reference to criticisms he is ‘only riding the emotional outpouring over his || mother’s death last Ang. 1. Mr. Aquino had never figured in previ- | ouspresidential surveys, only being put forth as apossible candidate after his mother died. In the process another presidentiable, Sena- | tor Manuel“Mar” A. Roxas, dropped his bid to become Mr. Aquino’s running mate. Roxas led the race for vice-president in the BW-SWS poll. (See related story in this sec- tion) Meanwhile, NP spokesman Gilbert C. Remulla, speaking on behalf of Mr. Villar said: “We are on target in terms of gaining points and ratings... Flipine voters will realize who the best presidential candidate is.” “We believe that there is much more space with four and a half months to go before the elections.” Mr. Villar was previously a frontrunner, along with Vice-President Manuel “Noli” L de Castro and Senator Loren B. Legarda, in earlier SWS polls which asked respondents ‘who they thought were the three best leaders =i stead of just choosing one, as in the BW- SWS survey ~ to succeed Mrs. Arroyo. Margaux M. Salcedo, spokesman of Mr. || Estrada, said they were “confident” that the | former leader would m move to the top of the qevien “ELILI ALLL survey once the Comelec or the 5 Court settles legal questions on his el to seek the presidency anew. “One of the factors we're also considering is the issue of qualification being a former president. Once settled, we believe that that will be a factor for him to lead the surveys. Some people might still be hesitating now be- cause of the issue,” Ms. Salcedo in a telephone imterview. The 72-year old former leader was over- thrown in the 2001 “EDSA Dos” people power revolution amid corruption allegations, He ‘was sentenced to life imprisonment for plun- der in October 2007 but was pardoned a few ‘weeks later by Mrs, Arroyo, His claim is that the grant of executive clemency restored his political and civil rights. And since he was unable to finish his term, Mr. Estrada insists that his latest run is not covered by the constitutional ban preventing a president from seeking another six-year term. Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary B, Olivar, for his part, said the administration was optimistic that Mr. Teodoro would “con- sistently move up” in succeeding voter opin- ion polls “The presidential election i still far. There is stilla lot of time to prepare for them to get where he needs to be,” the Palace spokesman said. Other candidates were not immediately available for comment. een: nL