MANILA, Philippines — Amid the string of issues involving Vice President Sara Duterte, he still emerged as the top presidential bet for Filipinos in the 2028 presidential election, a non-commissioned survey from polling firm Oculum said Monday.
The survey indicated that Duterte garnered a 25.4 percent voter preference, positioning her as the leading candidate for president in the 2028 presidential elections.
But the voter preference for Duterte slid by nearly half compared to the 42. Percent preference in the first quarter of the year.
In the preference list, Senator Raffy Tulfo secured the second spot with 18.5 percent, followed by former VP Leni Robredo in third with 10.6 percent. Senator Imee Marcos came in fourth with 5.7 percent, ex-Manila Mayor Isko Moreno fifth with 4.8 percent, and ex-Senator Manny Pacquiao sixth with 3.1 percent.
Senator Risa Hontiveros ranked seventh with 2.9 percent, Senator Robin Padilla eighth with 2.6 percent, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez ninth with 0.8 percent.
Approximately 20.4 percent of respondents were still undecided, while 4.3 percent selected “none of the above.”
While Duterte led the presidential survey, her satisfaction and trust ratings plummeted in the second quarter, according to the same survey.
Over 64 percent of Filipinos were satisfied with Duterte’s performance, down from her 75 percent satisfaction rating while in terms of trust rating, around 68 percent still trust the ice president although it was also a decline from 75 percent in the first quarter of this year, it said.
“The significant drop suggests that the public approval of the performance of the Vice President is waning,” said Racidon Bernarte, research head of Oculum.
Despite the drop in her ratings, Duterte maintained a high level of satisfaction compared to other top government officials, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at 50 percent, Senate President Francis Escudero at 48 percent, House Speaker Martin Romualdez at 34 percent, and Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo at 25 percent.
The Oculum survey was carried out between June 25 and June 30 days after Duterte left the Department of Education in the Marcos Cabinet on June 19. The survey involved face-to-face interviews in the country with 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above. The poll has a sampling error margin of ±3 percent and a confidence level of 95 percent.
The Oculum Survey oversight board was composed of media practitioners from PressOne, CBCP News, and professors from several universities in Metro Manila.
The survey was revealed nearly a week after the OCTA Research released its survey findings on the political preferences of Filipinos which said that fewer Filipinos are becoming pro-Duterte compared to pro-Marcoses.
The OCTA Tugon ng Masa survey showed that support for Marcos rose to 36 percent in June 2024, nearly four out of 10, up from 31 percent in March. In contrast, support for Duterte fell from 20 percent in March to 16 percent in June. The survey also noted that over 31 percent of adult Filipinos identify as independent, not aligning with either Marcos, Duterte, or the opposition.
