Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has taken a significant lead over actor Fernando Poe Jr for the first time, the latest opinion poll ahead of May 10 elections showed on Monday.
The nation-wide survey taken at the end of March by Pulse Asia showed Arroyo had the support of 34 percent of those surveyed compared with Poe's 31 percent. The two had been level at 32 percent in the previous Pulse survey taken in mid-February.
"This is the first time that President Arroyo has had a statistically significant lead, although small, over Mr Poe," the polling firm said in a statement.
Poe's big lead in opinion polls at the beginning of the year has been whittled away as Arroyo's campaign, widely seen as better funded and organised, revs up and speculation swirls that the actor is running out of money to fund his presidential bid.
Newspapers reported on Monday that Poe, a movie icon whose lack of experience has worried financial markets, had appointed a new campaign manager in an attempt to revive his campaign.
They also said a religious leader had persuaded Poe to reopen unification talks with rival opposition candidate Panfilo Lacson.
A unified front with Lacson, whose rating has been stuck at around 10 percent for months, would pose a huge challenge to Arroyo, but analysts have expressed doubts that either of the men would be willing to make way for the other.
The Pulse survey of 4,800 voters nation-wide showed former police chief Lacson on 10 percent, two percentage points behind former education secretary Raul Roco and seven ahead of evangelist preacher Eddie Villanueva.
But it showed 10 percent of Filipinos were either unsure of their choice or unwilling to back any candidate, compared with eight percent in the previous survey.
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