Polls: Aquino most trusted bet

MANILA -- Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has regained the greatest amount of voters’ trust, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey.

Aquino’s closest rival Nacionalista Party (NP) bet Senator Manny Villar’s rating on the other hand plunges down.

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Aquino maintained his 64-percent trust rating from last month, while the rating of Villar zoomed down to 59 percent from 70 percent last month.

Aquino’s running mate Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas is also the most trusted vice presidential candidate with 70-percent trust rating.

The tandem of Villar, Senator Loren Legarda, follows Roxas, with 58 percent.

Coming in third for the presidential race is former president Joseph Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino) with 40 percent.

Lakas-Kampi-CMD bet Gilbert Teodoro got 29 percent at fourth place, followed by Senator Richard Gordon (Bagumbayan), with 25 percent.

Among the vice presidential candidates, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino) received 45-percent trust rating, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chief Bayani Fernando (Bagumbayan) got 22 percent, and host-actor Edu Manzano (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) had 19 percent.

The survey was conducted on Feb. 21 to 25 among 1,800 respondents.

The LP camp credited Villar’s higher trust ratings than Aquino last month due to the timing of the survey in which the C-5 controversy hurled against Villar has not yet erupted.

An earlier survey conducted by Pulse Asia showed Villar as the most trusted among the presidential candidates.

The survey was conducted on January 22-26, barely four days after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile submitted to the plenary a committee report on their C-5 inquiry recommending that Villar be reprimanded for alleged conflict of interest and made to refund the P6 billion cost of the project.

Still alive

In a related development, Aquino said Wednesday he believes that the key to his father’s murder is still alive and in the United States.

“As far as I understand, he’s still alive,” he said in an interview before a sortie in Daet, Camarines Norte.

The man was part of the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) van that was at the Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983 — the day opposition senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was assassinated on the tarmac, according to the LP presidential candidate.

But Noynoy could not recall the name of the official out of exhaustion from the Daet sortie.

“But he will be the one who can link the higher ups and the airport officials who planned the crime that day,” he said.

But he said the man might not have been included in the investigation conducted by the Agrava Commission, which was formed after the Ninoy assassination.

Noynoy said the man might have also been declared innocent and then went to the United States.

“For me, it is clear that those who killed my father are insisting that they are innocent, contrary to court finding that they were the ones who did it. They are still insisting up to this day that only one person is involved, only Rolando Galman,” he added. (Angela Casuay/Sunnex)