VP remains Pinoy pick for President in 2028

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio and Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporters

VICE-PRESIDENT (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio continues to be the top pick of Filipinos in the 2028 presidential election, according to the latest poll by public opinion research firm WR Numero Research.

In a statement on Monday, the pollster said 29% of Filipinos would vote for Ms. Duterte, whom the House of Representatives impeached on Feb. 5, if the elections were held in February 2025.

Trailing Duterte is Senator Raffy Tulfo with 19%, followed by former Vice-President Leni Robredo at 12%. WR Numero conducted the survey on Feb. 10 to 18.

Senator Grace Poe and senatorial candidate and boxing legend Emmanuel “Manny” D. Pacquiao got 4% and 3%, respectively. Other notable names were Senator Maria Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos (3%), Senator Robinhood Ferdinand “Robin” C. Padilla (2%) and Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senator Risa Hontiveros each getting 1%.

“We must wait and see how the impeachment trial will unfold so that we know to what extent her numbers can go up or down,” Jean S. Encinas-Franco, a University of the Philippines political science professor, said in a Viber message.

Ms. Duterte’s domination of news headlines helped elevate her poll numbers, Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “There’s also the persistence of a disinformation network propping her up.”

Mr. Tulfo dropped by almost 5 points from 23.7% in the pollster’s September survey.

“Mr. Tulfo’s novelty might be wearing off, and he might end up being dubbed as a ‘raw candidate,’” Anthony Lawrence A. Borja, an associate political science professor at De La Salle University, said via Messenger.

Meanwhile, the February 2025 noncommissioned survey found that more than one in five Filipinos (23%) were undecided about their presidential pick, while 3% said their preferred candidates were not on the list of potential contenders.

Meanwhile, Ms. Poe emerged as the top bet for Vice-President, with 15.6% of Filipinos saying they would vote for her. Behind her were Ms. Robredo (13.5%), Mr. Pacquiao (9.7%), Mr. Padilla (8.3%), and Ms. Marcos (7%).

About a third of Filipinos were undecided, while 6% said their preferred vice-presidential candidate was not on the list provided by the pollster.

Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri (3.3%), Defense Secretary Gilberto Eduardo C. Teodoro (2.8%) and Mr. Romualdez (1.1%) completed WR Numero Research’s vice-presidential survey.

Mr. Romualdez’s poor showing makes him not a viable successor of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. for 2028, Mr. Borja said.

“Mr. Romualdez is suffering the same positional and image issues that Manuel A. Roxas II had under the Aquino administration,” Mr. Juliano said. “The fact that he’s seen as the ‘invisible hand’ of the government continues to hamper his credibility.”

WR Numero interviewed 1,814 Filipinos aged 18 and older for the survey, which had an error margin of ±2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

‘MOST ENGAGING’
Also on Monday, public relations firm Publicus Asia, Inc. said Party-list Rep. Erwin T. Tulfo was the “most engaging” candidate among the administration senatorial bets, with 1.47 million social media engagements. Despite this, he was only fifth in having positive sentiment at 20.5%.

He surpassed Senator Ramon “Bong” B. Revilla, Jr. and presidential sister Senator Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios “Imee” R. Marcos, who got 1.32 million and 1.21 million engagements, respectively.

They were followed by boxer-turned-lawmaker Emmanuel “Manny” D. Pacquiao, Sr. and Senator Francis N. Tolentino, with 902,000 and 724,000 social media engagements, respectively.

Mr. Revilla, a former actor, had the highest positive engagement at 46.1%, followed by Mr. Tolentino with 39.4%, the PR firm said in a statement, citing its social media report covering several platforms including Facebook, X, Instagram, news websites, forums, and Reddit from Jan. 16 to Feb. 15.

Meanwhile, other candidates got neutral sentiment, suggesting limited audience interest in their recent activities, Publicus Asia said.

According to various polls, the top contenders for the 2025 midterm elections included Mr. Tulfo, Mr. Pacquiao, Las Piñas Rep. Camille A. Villar, Senator Manuel M. Lapid, Senator Pilar Juliana S. Cayetano, Makati Mayor Mar-len Abigail S. Binay and former Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III.

Meanwhile, the Duterte-backed Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) campaign was led by Senator Ronald M. dela Rosa with 1.62 million social media engagements. He was followed by Senator Christopher Lawrence T. Go with 1.37 million.

Mr. Go had the highest number of positive sentiment at 26.6%, while Mr. Dela Rosa had 12.5%.

Self-appointed son of God Apollo C. Quiboloy was third with 921,000 social media engagements; he also got 12.5% positive sentiment.

For independent bets, former Senator Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV led the pack with 2.84 million social media engagements and the second-highest positive sentiment at 17.4%.

He was followed by former Senator Francis Pancratius N. Pangilinan with 2.25 million engagements and the highest positive sentiment at 18.5%.

Broadcast journalist Bienvenido T. Tulfo trailed at third with 410,000 social media engagements but had one of the lowest positive sentiment at 4.4%.

The campaign period for senatorial and party-list candidates started on Feb. 11, while local bets will start their campaign on March 28.

Up for grabs in the May 12 elections are 317 congressional seats and thousands of local posts. The biggest battle will be for 12 spots in the 24-member Senate, a chamber packed with political heavyweights and wielding outsized influence.