Vice Governor Rene Relampagos who is seeking reelection retained a lead in the race for the province’s second top government post but his lone opponent Provincial Board (PB) Member Victor Balite has the “momentum” based on surveys conducted by a Quezon City-based research firm.  

Voter preference for Relampagos dropped to 56 percent in April from 63 percent in February based on the surveys conducted by Spheres Research Services (formerly Ilaursa Research Services).

Meanwhile, Balite surged to 43 percent in April from 35 percent in February.

According to Spheres senior research manager Jojo Carlom, the results of their independent, non-commissioned survey showed that Balite has the “momentum” amid the campaign period.

Local candidates have been allowed to campaign starting on March 25 until May 7.

It was after the start of the campaign period that Balite chipped away on Relampagos’ lead.

However, based on the survey conducted from April 9 to April 13, Relampagos still leads in all three districts.

In the first district where Relampagos was congressman from 2010 to 2019, the incumbent scored 54 percent while Balite got 45 percent.

Balite’s preference rating in the second district, the bailiwick of his running mate Rep. Aris Aumentado, was higher at 45 percent but still lower than Relampagos’ 54 percent.

Relampagos and Balite got the same preference ratings in the third district at 54 percent and 45 percent, respectively.

Spheres’ data showed that Relampagos tallied the largest drop in preference in the second district as his score plummeted from 67 in February percent to 54 percent in April.

According to Carlom, they have been conducting another survey this week and are set to release the results by Saturday.