President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is still the candidate to beat in the 2022 vice presidential race, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
This, after the Sept. 6 to 11 pre election survey conducted by private pollster Pulse Asia showed that Duterte failed to maintain his lead in the roster of preferred vice presidential candidates.
“Be that as it may, the President remains the candidate to beat in the 2022 elections,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement.
Duterte, according to Pulse Asia survey, slumped to second place after preference for him to run for vice president declined by four points to 14 percent.
Topping the list of potential vice presidential candidates is Senate President Vicente Sotto III who got the nod of 25 percent of 2,400 respondents.
Roque said surveys are mere “snapshots of public opinion at a particular point in time.”
“The latest Pulse Asia survey, conducted September 6 to 11, was done when aspirants, including President Rodrigo Roa Duterte who expressed interest to run for the Vice Presidency position, have yet to file their Certificates of Candidacy, and there are uncertainties on [his] electoral bid,” he said.
Another survey conducted by private polling firm Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) from June 23 to 26 revealed that 60 percent of 1,200 adult Filipinos believed that Duterte’s potential vice presidential bid could violate the intention of the 1987 Constitution “which should be amended first before he may run for office again.”
It bared that only 39 percent chose Duterte as their vice presidential candidate because they like “his management of the government to continue.”
Only 1 percent refused to comment on Duterte’s plan to seek the vice presidency.
In a virtual presser on Tuesday, Roque said Duterte is “sensitive” to the public’s opinion and could still reconsider his intent to run for vice president.
Duterte has been named as the official vice presidential candidate of his ruling party, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
He has accepted his nomination as PDP-Laban’s vice presidential bet to continue his ongoing efforts to fight illegal drugs and corruption in government. (PNA)