MANILA, Philippines — Former presidential assistant Christopher “Bong” Go landed in eighth place in the nationwide survey of senatorial candidates as revealed by dzRH radio yesterday.

Go’s rank comes just a little over a month after he filed his candidacy, and barely a year after he was mentioned by President Duterte as a possible Senate candidate.

Go now emerges as one of the fastest rising senatorial candidates in the country.

The survey data, according to dzRH, the flagship station of the Manila Broadcasting Co. (MBC), was gathered through face-to-face interviews conducted on Nov. 17 with 7,450 respondents – a sample that is statistically representative of voters in Metro Manila and 73 provinces nationwide with an error-margin of +/- 1.14 percent.

Other candidates sharing the top-8 spot include Sen. Cynthia Villar, who emerged as the early leader with 61.8 percent, followed by former senator Lito Lapid with 50.3 percent. Clustered together in third to sixth spots are Sen. Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Taguig City Rep. Pia Cayetano, Sen. Nancy Binay and former senator Ramon Revilla Jr.

Vying for seventh to 11th spots are former senator Jinggoy Estrada, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, former senator Sergio Osmeña III, and retired National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa.

Go is among the first timers who pledged to push for a real and genuine change in the Senate.