A few days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. unveiled the administration’s Senate slate for the 2025 midterm elections, a survey revealed that 10 of the 12 contenders are viewed favorably by the public.
According to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, ACT-CIS Partylist representative and former Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Erwin Tulfo leads the pack, with 54 percent of voters indicating they would vote for him if the elections were held during the survey period.
Coming in behind him is former Senate President Tito Sotto, who is making a comeback to politics with 34 percent.
Incumbent Senator Pia Cayetano placed third in the survey with 31 percent, followed by former President Rodrigo Duterte with 25 percent, placing him in fourth and fifth place.
He previously held 36 percent of preferred votes in the survey in March.
Presidential sister Senator Imee Marcos was tied with Duterte as the former’s numbers increased to 25 percent from 22 percent in March.
Sharing the sixth and seventh spot are Senator Bong Revilla and former Senator Ping Lacson who gained 4 percent support in September.
Meanwhile, Las Piñas Representative Camille Villar had the biggest gain in the survey after breaking into the Top 12 and the eighth spot after being in 20th-24th place in March.
Makati Mayor Abby Binay also broke into the Top 12 after scoring a tie with Senator Lito Lapid in the 9th-10th spot with 20 percent.
Former Senator Manny Pacquiao fell to the 11th-13th place at 18 percent from the 6th-7th rank in March.
Senator Francis Tolentino and Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos failed to enter the Top 12 as PDP Laban bets Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Senator Christopher “Bong” Go held the last two spots.
Tolentino sits at 14th place while Abalos is in 16th-17th place.
Opposition candidates former Senators Kiko Pangilinan and Bam Aquino failed to enter the Top 12 and are currently in the 15th and 16th-17th ranks, respectively.