Social media driving force in political surveys — research firm

Social media platforms are seen to heavily influence political surveys leading to the 2025 elections, according to a research firm.

Martin Xavier Peñaflor, CEO of market research company Tangere, said a certain candidate's social media presence influences how the public perceives them.

"Ang main driver ng decision making ng tao—kung bibili ako ng gatas, bibili ako ng cellphone--social media (The main driver of people's decision making—if they buy milk, if they buy a cellphone—is social media)," Peñaflor explained during a media forum in Makati on Monday.

Peñaflor, meanwhile, attributed the "significant improvement" of former senator Bam Aquino in the recent surveys to his effective social media campaigning, particularly on the short-form video platform Tiktok.

According to the online reference library DataReportal, there are about 86.75 million social media users in the Philippines.

Peñaflor also encouraged Filipino voters to do their "due diligence" and use social media to their advantage.

"You can find their advocacies on TikTok. You can look for it. Watch it on TikTok videos. Search for your candidates on social media," he added.

For aspirants, Peñaflor urged them to make their platforms known on social media, stating that it's their platforms that get them elected, not just their mere social media presence.

'Viable options'

Peñaflor also noted that based on surveys, most respondents only consider 24 senatorial hopefuls as "viable options."

"Looking at this sa (in the) point of view ng tao (of the public), I only have 24 people to choose from. The rest, fill in the blanks na lang (only)," he said.

He continued that Filipino voters, by average, only choose eight candidates and the rest they just pick them just to complete the remaining four spots.

"Walo lang ang nilagay nilang average (On average, they are only putting eight candidates)," he said.

"Yung iba pindot lang nang pindot sa letter A, letter B, para maging labing dalawa (The others just kept pressing letter A, letter B, to make it 12). Which is really sad," he added.

'T3 in Senate'

As senatorial aspirants Ben and Erwin Tulfo continue to lead in various surveys, three Tulfos in the Senate is not a long shot, Peñaflor added.

"If the trend continues, yes," Peñaflor said.

If Ben and Erwin win, they will join their brother, Senator Raffy Tulfo in the 24-member upper chamber.