A recent survey shows that youth voters in Manila favor former PNP chief Sonny Razon over his rivals.

The survey, conducted in Manila among 2,400 respondents from March 26 to April 10, 2010 by the Issues and Advocacy Center, showed that 38 percent of respondents aged 18 to 25 years old, who comprised 11 percent of the total number of respondents, favored Razon over incumbent Mayor Alfredo  Lim and former environment secretary Lito Atienza, who got 32 percent and 29 percent, respectively.

Razon was also the choice of 41 percent of respondents in the 26 to 35-year-old age bracket, who comprised 18 percent of the total number of respondents, as against Lim’s 38 percent and Atienza’s 29 percent.

This is quite significant since youth voters are generally deemed to have high expectations and are most politically active among voters. International bodies classify those up to 25 years old as belonging to the youth sector, while Republic Act 8044, or the Youth in Nation-Building Act of 1995, sets the definition of youth in the Philippines as those who are 15-30 years old.