Sitting, ex-lawmakers in top-of-mind Senate pre-poll survey; 50% undecided

Metro Manila, Philippines — Sitting and former lawmakers led a top-of-mind preference survey for the Senate, according to pollster PUBLiCUS Asia, with half of the respondents likely to change their choices come voting time.

In its PAHAYAG survey released on Monday, Oct. 21, PUBLiCUS Asia said reelectionist Sen. Bong Go was consistently on top when asked to specify the name of a candidate that comes to their mind first if the polls were held today.

The next preferences were Dr. Willie Ong, boxer and former Sen. Manny Pacquiao, former Senate President Tito Sotto, and SAGIP party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta.

Tied at third were former Senators Kiko Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, and Ping Lacson, and presidential sister and Sen. Imee Marcos.

PUBLiCUS Asia found out that 10% of respondents were undecided, while around 45% are likely to change their choices between now and the May 2025 elections, or an effective 50% still ambivalent about their vote.

The pollster said the “unaided survey” included names of those who will not participate in the Senate race.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros was ahead, followed at far second by Sen. Raffy Tulfo tied with Go, former President Rodrigo Duterte and lawyer Chel Diokno next, followed by Senate President Chiz Escudero and Sen. Robin Padilla.

Aside from the featured top 12, additional names from the list were Sen. Bong Revilla, ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, and Sen. Bato dela Rosa.

Aided list

PUBLiCUS Asia also presented the top preferences on what it called “aided list.” In the Top 12 were:

Wilie Ong

Erwin Tulfo

Tito Sotto

Ping Lacson

Bong Go

Ben Tulfo

Pia Cayetano

Manny Pacquiao

Kiko Pangilinan

Imee Marcos

Bam Aquino

Bato dela Rosa

For the aided list, PUBLiCUS Asia said it narrowed down the choices from those who filed certificates of candidacy from Oct. 1 to 8.

The pollster surveyed 1,500 respondents from Oct. 16 to 17, with a ±3% margin of error.

"It is a nationwide purposive sampling survey of 1,500 respondents randomly drawn from the market research panel of over 200,000 Filipinos maintained by the Singapore office of PureSpectrum, a US based panel marketplace with multinational presence. The sample was restricted to registered Filipino voters," PUBLiCUS Asia explained, adding that the samples were "not affiliated with any bias or political party."