For students of the University of the Philippines-Diliman, it’s a race between former Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani “BF” Fernando and Liberal Party vice presidentiable Senator Mar Roxas for the vice presidency.

In the recently-held “Iskolar Ng Bayan UP Mock Election,” organized by the UP Alpha Sigma Fraternity, Fernando surprisingly garnered a seemingly significant vote of 1,262 votes (14.9 percent) and landing closely behind all-time survey leader Roxas who earned 2,918 votes (34.46 percent).

Fernando bested two UP Alumni: Political-archrival Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and Nacionalista Party bet Senator Loren Legarda, who earned 907 votes (10.71 percent) and 673 votes (7.95 percent) respectively.

The UP mock election was held from March 2 to March 16 and participated by more than 9,000 students of whom 5,893 said they were registered voters.

“This is a favorable development for Team Bayani. This only shows that many of the educated voters like the UP Students highly considers the capability, track-record and platform of a candidate. This manifests that voters now are more intelligent and recognize the Political Will of BF,” lawyer Ranele Pineda, Bayani spokesperson expressed.

Earlier, Fernando also soared in the University of Santo Tomas Vice Presidentiable On-Line Survey where he received a significantly high rating of 21.9 percent landing second to Roxas who earned 46.5 percent. Fernando also edged Binay and Legarda who got 15.2 percent and 6.4 percent respectively.

The survey had 13,599 respondents which accordingly equivalent to 40 percent of the entire UST population.

“The results of mock election and survey conducted by two reputable schools are significant developments that inspire us and boost our quest for the vice presidency. These exercises are highly credible and notcommissioned nor manipulated by any political force thus, we respect and highly recognize the effort of organizers,” Pineda said.

Fernando is the running-mate of Bagumbayan Standard Bearer Senator Richard Gordon.

Gordon and Bayani are known as “The Transformers” or change-leaders for having transformed their respective cities during their stints as Mayors.

Gordon is credited for having transformed Olongapo while Fernando transformed Marikina from a municipality into a world-class city. Both cities were visited by natural disasters such as the Mt. Pinatubo eruption and typhoon Ondoy but both cities rebounded quickly from the calamities under their two’s leadership.