Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III has maintained his lead over his rivals in the latest Pulse Asia survey.

Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III has maintained his lead over his rivals in the latest Pulse Asia survey.

In its February 21 to 25 survey of 1,800 respondents nationwide, Aquino’s rating was virtually unchanged while that of Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar dropped by six percent.

The top gainer in the race was former President Joseph Estrada, whose rating jumped by six percent.

Aquino got the nod of 36 percent of the respondents, with Villar trailing at 29 percent voter support.

Former President Joseph “Erap” whose rating jumped by six percent.

Aquino got the nod of 36 percent of the respondents, with Villar trailing at 29 percent voter support.

Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada gained 18 percent preference, an improvement from his previous rating.

“From 12 percent to 18 percent that's a jump of 6 percent. That means I'm improving. So another 6 percent next month and then another 6 percent, I will catch up,” Estrada said in reaction to the survey.

“That's a good sign. I’m picking (up) now. The rest are going down. I think we have to campaign harder and position everything our campaign strategies to achieve this,” he added.

All the other candidates obtained only a maximum of seven percent preference.

In the vice presidential race, Sen. Mar Roxas was still on top at 43 percent, followed by Sen. Loren Legarda at 27 percent. Makati Mayor Jejomar C. Binay gained two percent to land at third at 15 percent.

Overall, however, Roxas’ rating dipped by four percent while Legarda gained one percent.

The survey showed that six percent of Filipino voters have yet to decide on their presidential preference or have no preferred candidate if the May 10, 2010 elections were held during the survey period.

Aquino enjoys a significant lead in the National Capital Region (40 percent) and among the upper socio-economic classes ABC (43 percent) and D (36 percent), but shares the top spot with Villar in the rest of Luzon (33 percent to 31 percent) and Visayas (39 percent for Aquino, 38 percent Villar) and among the poorest class E (36 percent Aquino; 33 percent Villar).

However, Mindanao voters opted for Aquino (38 percent) followed Estrada (31 percent).

“Compared to the January, 2010 survey, voter support for Senator Aquino is virtually unchanged. On the other hand, voter preference for former President Estrada improves (by 6 percentage points) while that for Senator Villar declines (by 6 percentage points). Meanwhile, Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro, Jr. obtained a marginal increase in voter support (by 2 percentage points, from 5 percent to 7 percent),” Pulse Asia said.

Aquino’s spokesperson, lawyer Edwin Lacierda said the 50-year-old lawmaker from Tarlac felt vindicated after he earned a seven-point lead over his toughest contender in the race.

Lacierda said the undisputed ranking of the Aquino-Roxas tandem in the pre-election surveys further vindicated the LP’s “people-powered” campaign strategies compared with the “money-operated” promotion used by Villar’s camp. He cited the report of the popular media research firm AGB Neilsen that said Villar remains as the biggest spender for television advertisements since November for having spent a total of P1.3 billion, compared with Aquino’s P87 million. (With reports from Kris Bayos and Rio Rose Ribaya)