AQUINO-ROXAS TANDEM TEAM TO BEAT IN 2010 POLLS
3 SURVEYS IN DECEMBER CONFIRM COMMANDING LEAD OVER RIVALS

The Liberal Party tandem of Senator Benigno S. Aquino III and Senator Mar Roxas remains to be the team for President and Vice-President to beat in the May 2010 national elections, as shown by three pre-electoral surveys by reputable pollsters.

The latest survey published by the Manila Standard Today confirmed that Aquino and Roxas continue to lead their rivals in the hearts and minds of Filipino voters.

According to pollster Pedro Laylo' Jr.'s survey of 2,500 respondents nationwide from December 6-10, Aquino was chosen by 46 percent of voters as the candidate they will vote for as President if elections were held today, while Roxas was chosen by 41 percent of the voters as the candidate they will vote for as Vice-President.

This gives Aquino and Roxas commanding lead over their rivals, despite the latter spending heavily on "infomercials." This is also confirmed by two other surveys in December of Filipino voters' presidential and vice-presidential preferences by Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia.

In the SWS' December 5-10, 2009 survey for Business World, 46 percent of voters also chose Aquino as the candidate they will vote for President while 41 percent chose Roxas as the candidate they will vote for as Vice-President.

In the Pulse Asia survey from December 8-10, 45 percent of voters chose Aquino for President and 39 percent chose Roxas for Vice-President. "Nagpapasalamat ako sa napakalaki ng suportang ibinibigay ng ating mga kababayan sa pagbabagong isinusulong namin ni Noynoy. Lalong lumalakas ang loob namin para pursigihin ang ating laban para sa matuwid, matapat at malinis na pamamahala sa bansa (I am very happy that our kababayans give full support to the reforms that Noynoy and I advocate. Our resolve to pursue our fight for clean, honest and straight governance in our country strengthens further)," said Roxas, LP president.

"Ngunit ang labang ito ay hindi lang tungkol sa amin ni Noynoy o nang Partido Liberal. Ang labang ito, tungkol sa uhaw ng lahat ng Pilipino para sa tunay na pagbabago (But this fight is not just about me, Noynoy or the Liberal Party. For this is about the thirst of all Filipinos for real, transformative change)," he stressed.

In the MST/Laylo survey, Aquino's 46% was followed far behind by Senator Manuel Villar (27%), former President Joseph Estrada (17%), former Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro (5%), religious leader Eddie Villanueva (2%) and 1% Senator Richard Gordon (1%).

For Vice-President, Roxas' 41% was followed by 37% for Senator Loren Legarda, 9% for Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, 3% for actor Edu Manzano, 2% for ex-MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando and 1% for ex-SEC Chair Perfecto Yasay Jr. The MST/Laylo survey also showed that a plurality of voters or 45% said it is "very important" to vote for the candidate for President and Vice-President from the same ticket while 25% said it is "important," indicating that up to 70% of voters would vote for the President and Vice-President from the same ticket if elections were held today.