Twelve individuals, most of them incumbent members of Congress, have a statistical chance of winning if the May 2019 elections were held today, the latest Social Weather Stations survey said.
In the survey conducted from Dec. 16 to 18 among 1,500 respondents nationwide, Sen. Cynthia A. Villar led a list of 63 personalities with a high chance of winning the elections if it were held during the survey period.
Villar obtained 62 percent of the voter preference or an estimated 37.6 million Filipinos.
She was followed by Sen. Grace Poe with 60 percent or about 36.4 million Filipino voters.
Between third and fifth places with 40 percent each were Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano with (24.19 million), Sen. Edgardo Angara Jr. (24.17 million), and Sen. Nancy Binay (23.96 million).
Former Sen. Lito Lapid was sixth with 38 percent (23 million) and former Sen. Bong Revilla was seventh with 35 percent (21.2 million).
Tied at eighth and ninth places with 34 percent each were Sen. Koko Pimentel (20.7 million) and former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada (20.3 million).
Completing the Top 12 probable winners were former Sen. Mar Roxas at 10th with 28 percent (16.7 million), Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos at 11th with 27 percent (16.1 million), and Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito at 12th with 26 percent (15.6 million).
Not far from the 12th spot were former Sen. Sergio Osmeña at 13th with 25 percent of intended votes (15.2 million), 33Sen. Bam Aquino at 14th with 24 percent (14.5 million), former Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go at 15th to 16th place with 23 percent (13.9 million), and former Bureau of Corrections Director General and Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa at 15th to 16th places with 23 percent (13.7 million). (Ellalyn V. Ruiz)
