Philippine mayor widens poll lead ahead of May 9 election

By Jim Gomez, Associated Press MANILA, Philippines — A tough-talking Philippine mayor has widened his lead in a poll ahead of May 9 presidential elections, but analysts said Sunday that his chances will likely be hurt by a storm of criticism over a rape joke and offensive remarks against major Western allies. Photo courtesy of dulangan.com Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of southern Davao city led with 34 percent of 4,000 respondents in the Pulse Asia survey released Sunday. Sen. Grace Poe followed with 22 percent in the poll, which was commissioned by the ABS-CBN TV network. Vice President Jejomar Binay was third at 19 percent, while former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas got 18 percent among the top contenders in the survey, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 percent, according to ABS-CBN. Pulse Asia president Ronald Holmes said the survey was concluded before Duterte’s remarks last week in which he joked he wanted [...]