MANILA – On the eve of the start of filing of certificates of candidacy for the 2025 elections on Tuesday, political consultancy firm Publicus Asia released a senatorial preference survey where ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo emerged as the leading candidate.
The PAHAYAG survey, conducted from Sept. 15 to 19, 2024, found that 42 percent of the respondents would vote for Tulfo if the elections were held during the survey period.
He was followed closely by former senators Panfilo Lacson and Vicente Sotto III with 38 percent and 37 percent, respectively.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte took fourth place with 36 percent.
Senator Christopher Go secured fifth place receiving 33 percent support, and former senator Francis Pangilinan landed in sixth with 30 percent voter preference.
Incumbent senators Francis Tolentino and Imee Marcos were statistically tied with former senator Manny Pacquiao with 29 percent voting preference.
Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno ranked tenth (28 percent), while Senator Pia Cayetano placed eleventh (27 percent).
Tulfo’s brother and fellow broadcaster Ben Tulfo completed the top 12 by obtaining 26 percent voter support.
Publicus noted several incumbent senators fell outside the Top 12, including Senator Ronald dela Rosa, Manuel “Lito” Lapid, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. are currently ranked 13th, 19th, and 22nd, respectively.
The survey used purposive sampling with 1,500 respondents randomly drawn from a market research panel of over 200,000 registered Filipino voters. The panel is maintained by the Singapore office of PureSpectrum, a US-based panel marketplace with a multinational presence.
The election period starts with the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) from Oct. 1 to 8. (PNA)