Nacionalista Party’s presidential standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar has reclaimed his previous number one spot in voters’ choice for president after garnering a 46 percent rating against the 45 percent of Liberal Party’s Sen. Benigno Aquino III in the latest Pulse Asia poll.

Villar will overtake Aquino by one percentage point under a two-cornered fight based on the survey conducted by Pulse Asia January 22 to 26, 2010 among 1,800 respondents.

The respondents were asked: “Ngayon ay mayroon akong ipapakita sa inyo na ibat-ibang listahan, kung ang mga sumusunod ang siyang mga maging kandidato sa pagka-presidente ng Pilipinas, sino ang inyong iboboto kung ang pambansang eleksiyon ng 2010 ay gaganapin ngayon? (Now I'm going to show you different names, if the following candidates for president of the Philippines, whom are you going to vote for if the elections are held today?)”

The “one-on-one” scenario was contained in the similar Pulse Asia survey showing the gap between Villar and Aquino closing in with the NP standard-bearer receiving 35 percent against Aquino’s 37 percent or a margin of two percentage points.

But with only Aquino and Villar pitted against each other, Villar would actually overtake Aquino to become the new proverbial “man to beat.”

The same “one-on-one” survey has a plus or minus two percent margin of error.

It was a tremendous climb for Villar, who was rating only 32 percent as against Aquino’s 62 percent during a Pulse Asia survey conducted October 22 to 30, 2009, also under the “one-on-one” scenario.

This shows Villar gained 14 percentage points from October last year to January this year while Aquino slid by big 17 percentage points covering the same period.

Villar took Mindanao with 50 percent compared to Aquino’s 44 percent while solidifying his lead in the class E voters with 50 percent against Aquino’s 41 percent.

In other regions, Villar likewise overtook Aquino in Visayas with 47 percent against the latter's 46 percent and both running neck and neck in Luzon with 44 percent and 45 percent, respectively.

The National Capital Region (NCR) was no longer a Noynoy territory as Villar closes in with a strong 41 percent comeback (from previous 24 percent last October) versus Aquino’s fragile 48 percent (down from 69 percent in October).

The ABC economic class, which is mostly pro-Noynoy, remains an Aquino bailiwick with 52 percent (67 percent) against Villar’s 37 percent (22 percent).