Aquino leading Philippine presidential race

The son of revered former Philippine President Cory Aquino has taken a commanding lead among potential candidates for the 2010 presidential elections, an opinion poll said today.

The poll by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino was favoured by 60 percent of the respondents.

Senator Manuel Villar, who was in the lead in opinion polls before Aquino announced his candidacy last month, was second with 37 percent.

The election is due in May and the deadline for filing nominations is November 30.

The polling agency said the survey was conducted between Sept 18-21 among 1,800 adults and that the margin of error was plus/minus 2.3 percent.

Former President Joseph Estrada's support was measured at 18 percent and Senator Francis Escudero 15 percent. Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, the candidate of the outgoing administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, trailed at 4 percent.

Aquino has said he will win the election unless he fell victim to poll fraud or if there were threats to his safety.