QUEZON City vice mayoral candidate and District 2 Councilor Winnie Castelo has maintained his wide lead over incumbent Gian Sotto in the latest survey of voter preferences in the city.

Based on the poll conducted by Issues and Advocacy Center last April 4 to 15, 51 percent of voters preferred Castelo, while 34 percent picked Sotto.

Castelo thus had a 17-percentage-point advantage, the same edge enjoyed by his teammate, mayoral candidate Mike Defensor, over incumbent Mayor Joy Belmonte.

In Defensor’s case, he gained two percentage points, climbing from 52 percent last month to 54 percent this month. Belmonte’s score did not move at 37 percent.

In the congressional race, Castelo’s wife, District 2’s reelectionist Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo, picked up three points, jumping to 56 percent, while Ralph Wendel Tulfo Jr.’s rating fell by one point to 30 percent.

The other five congressional candidates of the Defensor-Castelo team are all ahead of their opponents.

Defensor and Castelo thanked city residents for their continued support and asked them to keep it up for a honest, transparent, responsive, and proactive city government.

The pollster said the Belmonte administration is being dragged down by accusations of irregularities, especially the alleged overpricing of more than P1-billion-worth of Covid-19 pandemic food packs procured by city hall in 2020.

A former city hall employee has filed a plunder case with the Office of the Ombudsman against Belmonte and other officials and private individuals involved in the procurements.

In the first congressional district, reelectionist Rep. Onyx Crilosogo had 53 percent against Juan Carlos Atayde’s 32 percent.

Another reelectionist, Allan Benedict Reyes of the third district, increased his voter support score by three points to 55 percent, while Franz Pumaren went down by one point to 31 percent.

In the fourth district, Marvin Rillo of the Defensor-Castelo ticket jumped by one point to 48 percent. His opponent, incumbent Rep. Jesus Suntay of the Belmonte ticket, lost four point, going down to 41 percent.

In the fifth district, businesswoman Rose Lin of Malayang Quezon City increased her score by four point to 42 percent, while Patrick Michael Vargas decreased his rating by three points to 33 percent.

In the sixth district, former congressman Bingbong Crisologo picked up two more points, climbing to 53 percent, while Marvic Co-Pilar gained a point to go up to 36 percent.