MIRIAM STILL U.P. BET

Presidential candidate Miriam Defensor Santiago on Tuesday reinforced her command of the University of the Philippines (U.P.) vote, as she won by landslide a new survey across three campuses of the country's top state-run school.

Santiago, a distinguished U.P. alumna and former law professor, was chosen president by 56.5 percent or 6,606 of the total 11,700 respondents in polls conducted in U.P. Diliman, U.P. Los Baños, and U.P. Manila.

She was followed by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, with 2,356 votes; Sen. Grace Poe, with 1,273 votes; Liberal Party bet Mar Roxas, with 641 votes; and Vice President Jejomar Binay, with 288 votes. Some 500 respondents abstained.

"I am honored to have been chosen by U.P. students, who are some of the most discerning voters and opinion leaders. If elected, I vow to continue the tradition of honor and excellence embodied by U.P.," the senator said.

Prior to winning the cross-campus survey, Santiago dominated at least four separate U.P. campus surveys: U.P. Baguio, 78.2 percent; U.P. Manila, 59.5 percent; and two U.P. Los Baños polls, where she got 86 percent and 65.75 percent.

• De La Salle University Manila, 75 percent;

• Polytechnic University of the Philippines, 64 percent;

• University of Santo Tomas, 66 percent;

• Ateneo De Manila University, 36.6 percent;

• University of Northern Philippines, 35.85 percent;

• Malayan Colleges Laguna, 54.7 percent;

• Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 58.5 percent;

• Holy Angel University, 40 percent;

• University of Asia and the Pacific, 43.2 percent;

• Adamson University, 64 percent;

• Ateneo de Naga University, 37.4 percent; and

• Philippine Normal University, 76 percent.

Commission on Elections data as of January 17 showed that 24.73 million registered voters for the May polls were aged 17 to 34 years old. Youth voters thus comprise almost half of the country's 54.36 million registered voters.