Villar tops Up Mock Election

With the elections more than a month away, a recent mock election at the University of the Philippines had Sen. Manuel Villar as the top choice, at least among a third of the campus population.
In the last leg of the mock election conducted by the U.P. Alpha Sigma Fraternity, Villar of the Nacionalista Party emerged the winner with 2,866 votes from a total of 8,468 participants from 25 colleges.
Coming in second was Sen. Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party, who got 1,787 votes, followed by Sen. Richard Gordon who garnered 1,317 votes.
Ex-Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who topped the previous mock elections, came in fourth with 646 votes.
“This series of mock elections is meant to highlight the importance of exercising the right to vote among U.P. students and that their vote counts,” said project head Marc Aguimatang at a press conference on Tuesday.
In the first part of the mock elections held in September last year, Villar placed second to then presidential aspirant Sen. Francis Escudero.
All winners of the three-part mock election – Escudero, Teodoro and Villar – are U.P. alumni.
Asked what could have helped Villar win, Aguimatang replied, “Well, sometimes you can’t help but develop ‘last song syndrome’ whenever you hear Villar’s campaign jingles on TV.”
He added: “Perhaps U.P. students would prefer a candidate who is also an alumnus because they trust those who come from the same school as theirs.”
Jason Santiago, lord chancellor of the fraternity, said Villar’s participation in forums early this year may have helped boost his popularity as well.
Most of Villar’s votes came from the College of Engineering, the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy and the College of Business Administration, where Villar earned his bachelor and master’s degrees.
The last part of the mock election was conducted among 8,468 students in 25 colleges from March 2 to 16, the largest mock polls so far conducted by the fraternity. The U.P. Diliman campus has a total of 22,597 students.
The participants were given a “ballot” in which they were asked: “If elections were held today, who would you vote for president and vice president?”
The fraternity said 5,893 out of the 8,468 participants said they were registered voters.
In the mock election for vice president, Sen. Mar Roxas won with 2,918 votes over ex Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair Bayani Fernando’s 1,262 votes.
In third and fourth places were Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay with 907 votes and Sen. Loren Legarda with 673 votes.
Asked to explain the differing results of the three-part mock elections, Aguimatang said this could be taken to mean that the students were assessing their choices.


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