Press Release
March 17, 2010

NOY, MAR MOST TRUSTED 2010 CANDIDATES - PULSE ASIA
VILLAR SUFFERS BIG DROP, LEGARDA STILL DOWN

Liberal Party standard bearers Senators Benigno S. Aquino III and Mar Roxas are the candidates most trusted by Filipino voters among public figures and among all candidates running in the presidential and vice-presidential elections in May 10.

In contrast, voters' trust for their rivals Sen. Manuel Villar and Sen. Loren Legarda declined, with Villar suffering a double-digit drop despite the more than P1 billion he had spent on TV and radio advertisements since last year.

These are the findings of the latest Pulse Asia survey conducted from February 21 to 25 among 1,800 respondents, which also showed Aquino and Roxas topping voters' preferences for President and Vice President if elections were held today.

Pulse Asia said Aquino enjoyed the "big trust" of 64% of Filipino voters, making him the most trusted candidate for President. Only 14% of voters said they had "small/no trust" for Aquino, with the rest undecided.

Roxas, on the other hand, continued to enjoy the distinction of being the public figure with the highest trust among Filipino voters, with 70% of voters saying they have a "big trust" for him, with only 10% having "small/no trust" and the rest undecided.

Aquino's high trust ratings is in contrast to Filipino voters' perception of his main rival Villar, whose trust ratings dipped to 59% due to an 11-point drop among Filipinos with "big trust" in him.

Legarda's trust rating likewise went down to 58%, or a drop of 3% from her January trust rating.

Among the presidential candidates, former President Joseph Estrada came third, with 40%, followed by administration standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro with 29%. Sen. Dick Gordon came next with a 25% rating.

In the vice presidential race, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay came third, with only 45%; former MMDA chief Bayani Fernando with 22% and by actor Edu Manzano, 19%.

The Pulse Asia trust survey validates results of recent pre-election preference surveys conducted by independents pollsters, where Aquino and Roxas thumped their rivals with wide margins.

Aquino and Roxas are campaigning on a platform of good governance and transformational leadership and have repeatedly vowed to make themselves examples that could be emulated by the rest in government, including a promise to open their bank accounts to public scrutiny to stress their commitment to wipe out graft and corruption in government.

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