DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio topped the fourth-quarter survey conducted by Publicus Asia as the most preferred choice for the vice presidential race.
Duterte-Carpio dominated the Pahayag Quarter 4 survey areas, with 54.8 percent of the 1,500 respondents randomly sampled choosing her as their preferred vice-presidential candidate.
The mayor got the highest rating in Mindanao with 78.6 percent.
"Her entry into the vice-presidential race broke the three-way tie for first place in the third-quarter survey," Publicus noted.
Trailing far behind were Dr. Willie Ong at 11.2 percent; Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III (11 percent); Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan (9.7 percent); Buhay party-list Representative Jose "Lito" Atienza (1.5 percent); and Professor Walden Bello (0.7 percent).
Her running mate, former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., also topped the preferred choice for president. His choice share was up by 2.6 percentage points from the 49.3 percent in the third-quarter poll.
Marcos was also the frontrunner in the third-quarter survey, as well as in Publicus' Final List Survey where he was the choice of 56.7 percent of the respondents.
Trailing him in the latest survey were Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo with 20.2 percent; Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso (7.9 percent); Senators Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go (3.9 percent); Panfilo "Ping" Lacson (3.4 percent); Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao (2.3 percent); and the former spokesman of President Rodrigo Duterte, Ernesto "Ernie" Abella (0.5 percent).
Go had still been included in the list despite already announcing his withdrawal from the race.
Publicus did the fourth-quarter survey from December 6 to 10, polling 1,500 respondents.
It said the survey was not commissioned.
The Marcos-Duterte-Carpio tandem is running the Uniteam Alliance, a coalition of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).
Marcos, the son of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., is running under PFP, while the mayor, the daughter of incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte, is both the chairperson of Lakas-CMD and HNP.
In a press release, HNP Secretary-General Anthony del Rosario said the survey results "are humbling, and at the same time, encouraging."
"It shows that the BBM-Sara UniTeam continues to capture the hearts of the Filipino people," Del Rosario said.
"But most importantly, it leads the party and all the organizations supporting the UniTeam to focus more on the pressing challenges that we are facing today -- such as recovery from the impact of the pandemic," the HNP official added.
The BBM-Sara UniTeam has recently been holding caravans around the country, meeting local officials and organizations supporting their bid in the 2022 elections.