Villar welcomes UP study showing him as the top presidentiable

Nacionalista Party President Sen. Manny Villar today welcomed the results of the survey conducted by University of the Philippines students showing him as the top presidential contender in the May 2010 polls with majority of the respondents saying they will vote for him as president.

"This kind of recognition from the people could only inspireus to do more," Villar said. The former Senate president said he is particularly happy with the result of the study showing wide reception and acceptance of the values of sipag at tiyaga, with majority of respondents saying his slogan of sipag at tiyaga and advocacy to help improve the condition of overseas Filipino workers are 'desirable.'

"We started information campaigns so that people will know the story of ordinary people who succeeded to make it big dahil sa pagsisipag at pagtitiyaga. It only means that our message of sipag at tiyaga as values necessary for the country's progress has resonated well with our kababayans," he said.

The study titled "Impression: The Importance of Media Presence On The Bid For The 2010 National Elections," focused on perceptions on the media presence of possible presidentiables and vice presidentiables in the 2010 elections.

It was conducted by Communication Research 165 (Data Interpretation and Gathering) students of UP under the supervision of Dr. Jose Lacson Jr. and Prof. Almond Pilar Aguila. Data gathering was done from November to December 2008 with 10 focus group discussions composed of six to eight participants. A survey was also done on respondents who live in Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Quezon, Camarines Sur, Bulacan, Tarlac and Pampanga.

The UP Communication Research Department was named as a Center for Excellence by the Commission on Higher Education. It holds annual research on relevant communication issues such as news perception and reception.

The study showed that 15 percent of the respondents will vote for Villar, followed by Sen. Francis Escudero at 10 percent. Escudero and Sen. Loren Legarda were also chosen by majority of the respondents as their choice for vice president, with 8 percent.

In the same study, Villar emerged as the most popular potential candidate with 79 percent of respondents saying he may run for office in 2010.

Following him were Sen. Loren legarda who got 48%, Vice Pres. Noli de Castro with 45%, Senator Mar Roxas, 34%, Bayani Fernando (26%), Sen. Panfilo Lacson (25%), Escudero (22%), former Pres. Joseph Estrada (16%), Jejomar Binay (12%), and Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (6%).