October 3, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Two brothers of Sen. Raffy Tulfo are still the most preferred candidates for senator in the 2025 midterm elections, based on a non-commissioned poll conducted by Pulse Asia last month.
The Sept. 6-13 survey released this week showed ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo obtaining 60.8 percent of support of the respondents.
The lawmaker was followed by broadcaster Ben Tulfo who garnered 49.6 percent of support, former Senate president Vicente Sotto III (48 percent), Sen. Pia Cayetano (41.3 percent), Sen. Bong Go (40.3 percent) and former president Rodrigo Duterte (38 percent).
Completing the top 12 were Makati City Mayor Abby Binay (37.5 percent), Sen. Bong Revilla (35.9 percent), former senators Panfilo Lacson (35.5 percent) and Manny Pacquiao (31.9 percent), Sen. Imee Marcos (29.8 percent) and Sen. Ronald dela Rosa (26.2 percent).
Outside the winning circle but within statistical chances of winning is reelectionist Sen. Lito Lapid (24.7 percent), who filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) yesterday, along with Sotto and Lacson, the other members of the so-called macho bloc in the Senate.
Trailing them are former senator Gregorio Honasan, Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar, former senator Francis Pangilinan, Dr. Willie Ong, Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte, former senators Bam Aquino and Richard Gordon, Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and Sen. Francis Tolentino.
‘Magic 12’
The Pulse Asia survey results are slightly different from the commissioned poll conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) from Sept. 14 to 23.
In the SWS survey, which was commissioned by think tank Stratbase ADR Institute, 10 out of 12 candidates under the Marcos administration’s Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate were in the winning circle.
These include Erwin Tulfo, Sotto, Cayetano, Marcos, Lacson, Revilla, Villar, Binay, Lapid and Pacquiao.
Out of the 13 that have statistical chances of winning, only three are not in the administration slate: Duterte, who ranked fourth to fifth, and Go and Dela Rosa, who tied for the 11th to 13th spots with Pacquiao.
The other two, Abalos and Tolentino, are outside the winning circle.
The SWS survey also showed a significant jump in Villar’s rankings, from 20th to 24th spot in March, to eighth in the latest poll. She obtained the support of 21 percent of the respondents in the September survey, compared to just 10 percent in the previous one.
The same is true for Binay, who is now in the ninth to 10th spot, from 16th in the previous survey.
Both are seeking to replace relatives – outgoing senators Cynthia Villar and Nancy Binay, who are term limited.
The commissioned SWS survey only limited the number of options to 40, compared to that of Pulse Asia with 74.
Among the names not included in the SWS poll were Ben Tulfo, Ong and Duterte siblings Sebastian and Paolo.
Makati Mayor Binay has emerged as the biggest gainer in the latest senato rial preference surveys conducted by Pulse Asia and SWS, signaling growing support for her senatorial bid in the coming midterm elections.
In Pulse Asia’s nationwide non commissioned survey, conducted from Sept. 6 to 13, Binay soared to a fourth to-ninth ranking among senatorial pref erences – a remarkable jump from her previous position, where she ranked 14th to 23rd. — Christine Boton
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