Cory Aquino tops Pulse Asia’s 'most loved leaders' survey

The Cory magic lives on. More than six months after her death, former President Corazon Aquino topped a survey by pollster Pulse Asia on the Filipinos’ most loved political leader. According to Pulse Asia, Aquino, a known global democracy icon, was named most beloved leader by 18 percent of the 1,800 Filipino adults who participated in the nationwide survey conducted from January 22 to 26 this year. The same survey also showed that the Filipinos, regardless of socio-economic status and geographical location, consider Aquino as their most beloved leader. Love for Cory benefits Noynoy “Former President Cory leads all other contenders for being most loved as a national leader or politician. In practically all geographic areas, regions and socio-demographic variables, her margin over other personalities are nearly all double-digit, indicative of her great stature in the eyes of numerous Filipinos," Pulse Asia said in its website. The same survey also revealed that half of the respondents who considered Aquino as their most loved political leader expressed a presidential vote preference for her son, Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino, in the upcoming May polls. Mrs. Aquino, who toppled the dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand Marcos through a popular uprising in 1986, died last August due to colon cancer. Her death sparked calls for her only son Noynoy to vie for the country’s highest post. A month after his mother’s death, Noynoy announced his candidacy for president under the Liberal Party banner. Marcos, Estrada among most well-loved Mrs. Aquino’s rival, the late strongman Marcos, came in distant second in the same survey, getting the preference of eight percent of the respondents. Former President and current presidential aspirant Joseph Estrada placed third, while Mrs. Aquino’s slain husband, Senator Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino Jr., came in fourth place. Also included in the top 10 were former President Ramon Magsaysay, Senator Manuel Villar Jr., President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, late action star Fernando Poe, Jr., former President Diosdado Macapagal, and Senator Francis Escudero. The survey first asked respondents whether any political leader ever gained their love or affection. More than half of the respondents (52 percent) said they love at least one of the country’s political leaders, while close to half (48 percent) said they are unable to find any Filipino politician worth loving. The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews of a sample chosen through probability sampling. It has a margin of error of plus or minus two percent, according to Pulse Asia.—JV, GMANews.TV