Vice President Sara Duterte’s electoral support in the 2028 presidential race is expected to slip once she is tried in the Senate impeachment court, a political analyst said Friday. 

This is evident in the recent Pulse Asia survey, which shows Duterte tied with Senator Raffy Tulfo at 46 percent in a possible one-on-one presidential match-up, according to the analyst.

Duterte’s standing in voter preference sharply fell from her usual rating of 80 percent, supposedly indicating her dominance is waning ahead of the 2028 elections.

“It means Sara is not invincible…What we see is, at best, Vice President Sara is plateauing. At worst, she’s going down by increments. It’s not dramatic, but she’s going down,” the political expert added.  

A previous survey showed that Tulfo has a higher preference number than Duterte for president in the 2028 elections. He also referenced an April survey revealing that 61 percent of respondents in Mindanao support the ongoing impeachment trial against Duterte.

Ahead of impeach hearings

The 2028 mock presidential race survey by Pulse Asia was conducted from 27 February to 2 March, ahead of the formal impeachment hearings at the House of Representatives. 

The damning testimony of Ramil Madriaga, the VP’s alleged “bagman,” and the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s report on the alleged suspicious bank transactions tied to VP Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio, would further erode the VP’s electoral backing in upcoming surveys. 

“That’s why they will continue to sink in the next surveys, because their management of the issue is poor,” he said. 

A portion of the Pulse Asia survey showed that Duterte and Tulfo tied at 42 percent in Metro Manila. Tulfo maintained a strong lead in Luzon with 72 percent, while Duterte trailed at 19 percent.