AQUINO, ROXAS STILL TOP PICKS FOR MAY 10 POLLS

The Liberal Party tandem of Senators Benigno S. Aquino and Mar Roxas continued to dominate pre-election surveys in the run-up to the May 10 presidential and vice presidential elections, according to the latest survey conducted by the Radio Mindanao Network (RMN).

Aquino led the presidential pack in the third RMN Nationwide Radio Listener Survey conducted last April 5-12, topping the Mega Manila polls with 44.1%; 44.9% in Visayas and 31.9% in Mindanao. He got 19.5% in the rest of Luzon.

In the vice-presidential race, Roxas zoomed past his rivals in Mega Manila, where he got 43.6%; in the Visayas, 52.8%; and in Mindanao, 37.2%. He garnered 22.3% for the rest of Luzon.

The RMN survey, which is part of the Tatak RMN: Radyo Mo Nationwide campaign, covered 33 cities in the country and was participated by more than 4,000 randomly selected respondents.

In the presidential race, former President Joseph Estrada ranked 2nd in Mega Manila with 25.2% while Nacionalista's Manuel Villar came third with 18.6%.

For the rest of Luzon, Villar got 28.6% while administration bet Gilberto Teodoro came third with 9.4%. In the Visayas, Villar got 26.4% and Teodoro, 7.5%; while in Mindanao, Estrada and Villar were tied with 25.8% and 25.4%, respectively.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay edged out Nacionalista bet Loren Legarda at second spot in the vice presidential race, getting 30.6% compared to the latter's 20.3%. For the rest of Luzon, Legarda got 25.9% and Binay, 13.8%.

In the Visayas region, where Legarda had said her ancestors were from, she placed a far second and got only 18.6% while Binay got 12.8%. Legarda also ranked 3rd with a 25.6% rating in Mindanao, despite being an Honorary Muslim Princess.

Aquino and Roxas have been leading in all pre-election preferential surveys conducted by independent survey firms and various media entities despite the vicious black propaganda and negative campaigning launched by their rivals. In the MBC-DZRH survey on April 16, 38.6% of the 6,900 respondents preferred Aquino for the presidential race while 41.4% picked Roxas in the vice presidential race.