Pulse Asia: 1 in 2 Pinoys pick Sara Duterte for president

MANILA, Philippines — Less than two years to go before voters choose the country’s next leaders, Vice President Sara Duterte is the preferred presidential candidate of five in 10 Filipinos, based on the latest Pulse Asia survey.

Conducted from June 28 to July 3 and on July 6, the survey said that 49 percent of the respondents would vote for Duterte, who is currently facing an impeachment trial in the Senate, if the May 2028 elections were held at the time.

Preference for her was highest in Mindanao where she had the support of 87 percent of respondents. This was followed by the Visayas at 53 percent, Metro Manila at 39 percent, and Luzon outside Metro Manila at 31 percent. Based on class, support for the Vice President was highest in Class E at 59 percent, followed by Class D at 48 percent and Class ABC at 46 percent.

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Robredo distant second

Next to her were former Vice President Leni Robredo at 26 percent, Sen. Raffy Tulfo at 14 percent, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon and Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong at 1 percent each, followed by Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Nicolas Torre III at 0.1 percent.

Support for Robredo was highest in Metro Manila at 38 percent, followed by Luzon outside Metro Manila at 31 percent, the Visayas at 27 percent, and Mindanao at 8 percent. For Tulfo, it was highest in Luzon outside Metro Manila at 20 percent, followed by Metro Manila at 16 percent, the Visayas at 10 percent, and Mindanao at 2 percent.

The survey also yielded results for preferred vice presidential candidates. Out of seven personalities and possible candidates, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go was the top choice with 27 percent. He was followed by Sen. Robinhood Padilla at 21 percent, Sen. Bam Aquino and former Sen. Grace Poe both at 14 percent, Sen. Erwin Tulfo at 9 percent, Sen. Francis Pangilinan at 4 percent, and MMDA’s Torre at 0.5 percent.

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Support for Go was highest in Mindanao at 47 percent, followed by the Visayas at 30 percent, Metro Manila at 21 percent, and Luzon outside Metro Manila at 17 percent. Class-wise, support for him was highest in Class ABC at 31 percent, followed by Class E at 27 percent and Class D at 26 percent.

Respondents also picked their preferred senatorial candidates; with 17 out of 53 bets found to have a statistical chance of winning if the May 2028 polls were conducted during the survey period.

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‘Senatoriables’

They were Padilla (with 48.4 percent saying they were voting for him, ranked first to second place); Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto (47.9 percent, first to third place); Raffy Tulfo (43.9 percent, second to fifth place); Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano (43.2 percent, third to fifth place); Sen. Loren Legarda (40.3 percent, third to fifth place); former Sen. Manny Pacquiao (35.6 percent, sixth to seventh place); Makati Mayor Nancy Binay (32.4 percent, sixth to seventh place); Education Secretary Sonny Angara (27.2 percent, eighth to ninth place); Sen. Mark Villar (26.1 percent, eighth to ninth place), journalist Ben Tulfo (20.7 percent, 10th to 12th place); Sen. Jinggoy Estrada (19.5 percent, 10th to 17th place); TV host Willie Revillame (19 percent, 10th to 17th place); Sen. Francis Escudero (17.2 percent, 11th to 19th place); former Rep. Mike Defensor (17.1 percent, 11th to 20th place); former Sen. Mar Roxas (17.1 percent, 11th to 20th place); former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos (17 percent, 11th to 20th place); and Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority official Mark Lapid (16.9 percent, 11th to 21st place).

The survey used face-to-face interviews with 2,400 adults and had error margins of plus-or-minus 2 percent and plus-or-minus 4 percent for Metro Manila, Luzon outside Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao at the 95 percent confidence level. /cb