Former Philippine National Police Director General Avelino “Sonny” Razon is fast emerging as an alternative choice in the three-cornered mayoral race in the City of Manila as incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim who is running for reelection and former Mayor Joselito Atienza stepped up their respective campaigns and have began throwing potshots at one another.

Ed M. Malay, director of The Issues and Advocacy Center (The Center), said that with a dramatic increase in his awareness ratings and the ability to translate this improved awareness rating into voters preference, Razon has shot up in the ratings in the latest survey conducted by The Center among 2,400 respondents in all the six districts of the City of Manila.

He said that The Center survey which used the multi-stage probability sampling method and a skip interval of 4-5 houses in between calls has a margin of error of + 2.8 percent and a confidence level of in excess of 95 percent and was conducted from April 12-18, 2010 with the number of respondents apportioned equally in the six districts.

Of the three candidates vying for the mayoral race in Manila, Razon stood out for having successfully parlayed this increased awareness and voters preference to place second in the vote-rich third district with 28 percent some 14 percent behind Mayor Alfredo Lim who is running for reelection and four per cent clear of former Mayor Joselito Atienza who in turn dominated the mayoral race in the fifth district with 37 percent as against the 32 percent of Lim and the 27 percent of Razon in the said district.

Malay said that of the cities and municipalities in the National Capital Region it is only in Manila where the candidates are almost on even keel meaning that all three candidates – Lim, Atienza and Razon – almost stand on equal footing in terms of qualifications and competence and it would really pose a problem for the voters of Manila to choose from among these three candidates.

It is for this reason, said Malay, that while Lim may be enjoying an advantage being the incumbent and who is in command of the huge resources of the city, still the mayoral elections in the City of Manila will most probably turn into a down-the-wire contest as the three protagonists go into the final stretch of the political season.