Former President Rodrigo Duterte remains the top-of-mind senatorial candidate for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections, the latest non-commissioned survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. showed.

The poll, which took place from 29 November to 4 December 2023, showed that the former president was the most popular choice for senator, with 59 percent of people trusting him and 48 percent planning to vote for him.

Duterte first put in a certificate of candidacy for a Senate seat in the 2022 national elections, but he later withdrew his candidacy.

The former president recent;y said that he would run for senator if his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, were impeached.

"If you do that, I'll return to politics. I will be forced to," the 78-year-old Duterte patriarch said in one of his television programs this year.

"It's either I will run for senator, or I will run for vice president, even if I'm old," he added.

The younger Duterte recently faced criticism due to her prior use of confidential funds and her initial request for P650 million from the 2024 national budget, which she eventually retracted.

Following closely in the survey is former broadcaster turned ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, who garnered 44 percent voting support and a corresponding 44 percent trust rating.

Cardiologist and former vice presidential candidate Willie Ong came in next with a 43 percent chance of voting and a 50 percent trust rate.

"Notably, Erwin Tulfo experienced a drop in support in Mindanao, sliding from 50 percent to 44 percent," the polling firm said.

"Likewise, Ong witnessed a decline in trust in Mindanao, dropping from 50 percent to 42 percent, along with a decrease in support from 44 percent to 39 percent," it added.

Next in line are reelectionist senators Christopher Go (40 percent), Imee Marcos (38 percent) and Ronald Dela Rosa (36 percent).

"The National Capital Region (NCR) sees an increase in voting predisposition for Go, rising from 29 percent to 38 percent, and for Marcos, climbing from 35 percent to 41 percent," Publicus Asia said.

Following the three senators are former Senate President Vicente Sotto (33 percent), former Manila Mayor Francisco Domingoso (31 percent), former senator Panfilo Lacson (31 percent), former Vice President Leni Robredo (27 percent), Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (26 percent) and reelectionist senator Pia Cayetano (25 percent).

Publicus Asia Inc. conducted the Pahayag 2023 End of the Year Survey for free from 29 November to 4 December, 2023. A random sample of 1,500 people from PureSpectrum's market research panel of over 200,000 Filipinos was used for the poll.

The participants were made up of registered Filipino voters kept track of by PureSpectrum, a panel marketplace based in the US with offices around the world.