Varsitarian survey has found that most UST students prefer
candidates in the May 9 elections who possess moral values and
educational qualifications, as well as those who will fight graft and
corruption in government.

The
survey, conducted in October to December 2015, asked 1,366 respondents
randomly selected from the University’s different colleges and faculties
to rank six qualities of a candidate based on importance.

Morality
was the most important quality of a candidate for 39 percent of
Thomasians, followed by education (28 percent), government platform (16
percent), and experience (13 percent). A candidate’s popularity and his
or her having “endorsements” came out the lowest with 1 percent each.

Asked
to rank which issues they thought were the most important in the coming
elections, 40 percent of Thomasians tagged the fight against graft and
corruption as top priority.

Economic
development followed with 20 percent; peace and order and good public
service, 6 percent; poverty reduction, 5 percent; and resolving traffic
congestion, 4 percent.

Scholarship
grants, the environment, human rights, job opportunities, and the need
to provide mass transportation got 3 percent each.

In
the same survey, senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ferdinand Marcos
Jr. were the top choices of Thomasians for president and vice
president, respectively. Santiago, who has multiple academic degrees,
got 66 percent; followed by former senator and cabinet secretary Manuel
Roxas II of the ruling Liberal Party, 8 percent; and independent
candidate Sen. Grace Poe, 5 percent.

Vice
President Jejomar Binay of the opposition United Nationalist Alliance,
who is hounded by graft and corruption allegations involving
construction and supply contracts when he was mayor of Makati, was the
cellar-dweller, getting only 3 percent.

Marcos,
son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, topped the vice-presidential
survey with 29 percent, followed by Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo
with 17 percent, Sen. Francis Escudero with 15 percent, Sen. Alan Peter
Cayetano with 13 percent, and Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV with 4 percent.

Most Thomasians against same-sex marriage, divorce
Moral
issues like the Reproductive Health Law and proposals to legislate
“same-sex marriage” and divorce were the No. 1 priority of just 2
percent of Thomasian respondents.

Varsitarian
survey results however showed that most Thomasians were against
legislating same-sex marriage (47.4 percent) and divorce (50.6 percent).

On
same-sex marriage, 31.8 percent of Thomasians were in favor of allowing
such unions, while 17.2 percent had no response. On divorce, 31.3
percent were in favor while 10.5 percent had no response.

Meanwhile,
47.8 percent of Thomasians were in favor of reviving the death penalty,
while 38.7 percent were against and 13.1 percent had no answer.

Most Thomasians, or 45 percent of survey respondents, were in favor of the Church taking an active stance on social issues.

No to dynasties
Results
also showed that 37 percent of Thomasians won’t vote for a candidate
with relatives in other elective positions in government, while 24
percent said they would. The rest did not respond.

Being
a former citizen of another country was not an issue for 56 percent of
Thomasians, an advantage for Senator Poe who was disqualified from the
2016 presidential race by the National Commission on Elections en banc
on Dec. 22 over citizenship and residency issues. Poe however has
appealed to the Supreme Court.

Thomasians
were also in favor of women holding the highest and second highest
positions in the government, at 66 percent and 58 percent of
respondents, respectively. Senators Santiago and Poe are the two women
bets for president, while Congresswoman Robredo is the lone woman
candidate for vice president.

The
Varsitarian survey took place from Oct. 26 and Dec. 10, with 1,366
respondents randomly selected through a sampling method that involved
stratified clusters. Paul Xavier Jaehwa C. Bernardo, Monica M. Hernandez, and Mary Gillan Frances G. Ropero

LEAVE A REPLY

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.