POE TOPS BILANG PILIPINO-SWS SURVEY ON HANDLING ISSUES

Presidential candidate Grace Poe emerged as the best candidate to address seven of the 12 issues presented to respondents in a series of six surveys recently conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) for Bilang Pilipino.

Poe said this showed her campaign thrust is geared towards platforms and programs rather than petty politics.

"We have stayed on the path of discussing the things that matter to the lives of the Filipinos and have veered away from mudslinging and other negative campaigns in the last three months," she said.

"As we head to election day on May 9, we hope the voters will keep in mind the candidates who gave them genuine programs, not punchlines," Poe added.

At the start of the campaign period in February, the senator issued a call to her rivals to elevate the discourse of the campaign and make it a "battle of platforms for a better government, not ambitions."

The SWS survey showed Poe as the best presidential bet to handle seven of the 12 issues put forward to respondents, namely: lowering of prices of commodities, increasing the wages of workers, health for all, education for the poor, food for the poor, cleanliness of the environment, disaster preparedness, and solving the traffic problem.

On the other hand, respondents chose Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as the best presidentiable to handle five of those 12 issues -- namely, fighting corruption, fighting crimes that victimize ordinary citizens, defending Philippine territories, peace in Mindanao, and solving the traffic problem.

Poe came in as second choice for four of these issues but was tied with Duterte in the issue of solving the traffic problem.

In a series of six surveys, conducted from April 5 to 8 and on April 12 and 27, the Bilang Pilipino SWS Panel Mobile Surveys asked respondents: "In your opinion who among the candidates for president can best address this issue: [specific issue]. (1 ANSWER ONLY)"

Two specific issues were tested each day, for a total of 12 specific issues.

The Bilang Pilipino SWS Panel Mobile Survey uses a nationally representative sample of 1,200 validated voters, 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The sample was drawn using standard SWS sampling procedures, and was first interviewed face-to-face from March 8 to 11, 2016 to become the panel for the mobile survey.