Duterte, Sotto top senatorial survey
FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte and former Senate president Vicente Sotto III. File Photo
(UPDATE) FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte, former Senate president Vicente Sotto III and ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo were the top three choices in the first quarter senatorial survey conducted by Oculum Research and Analytics.
The poll, conducted from Feb. 21-29, 2024, showed Duterte and Sotto tied at 53 percent among respondents, while Tulfo got 52 percent.
Following the three were former Manila mayor Isko Moreno at 45 percent, former senator Manny Pacquiao at 43 percent, and Sens. Ronald de la Rosa at 41 percent and Bong Go at 40 percent.
Tying in the eighth to 11th place at 35 percent preference were physician Willie Ong, reelectionist Sen. Imee Marcos, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto and reelectionist Sen. Pia Cayetano.
In the 12th to 14th spot were Sen. Bong Revilla, former senator Panfilo Lacson and Sen. Lito Lapid.
From 15th to 20th place were entertainer Willie Revillame, former vice president Leni Robredo, former senator Gregorio Honasan, former secretary Manuel Roxas III and former senator Francis Pangilinan.
Oculum Chief Statistician Joseph Mercado said candidates such as Duterte, Sotto, Tulfo, Moreno and Pacquiao exhibit both high awareness scores and a strong voter preference.
“This correlation suggests that their public visibility positively influences their electoral appeal,” Mercado added.
Other candidates with high awareness levels, such as Robredo, Honasan, Roxas and Pangilinan, have significantly lower voting preferences, noting that while they are well known, their popularity does not translate to electoral support.
Mercado said the survey underscores the importance of public visibility and perceived competence in influencing voter preferences for Senate candidates.
“High awareness often correlates with higher voting preference, but this is not universally the case, as seen with some well-known candidates with lower voting intent percentages,” Mercado said.
He also said that the data highlights the dynamic nature of voter preferences, with many factors, such as political campaigns, current events and the evolving public perception of the candidates having an effect.
The survey had over 3,000 respondents ages 18 years and above with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.