WITH under a month to go before Election Day on May 12, less than a third of Filipinos have a complete senatorial slate in mind, according to a Pulse Asia preference survey held in late April 2025.
The survey, conducted from April 20 to 24, showed that only 27 percent of Filipinos have a complete senatorial slate.
Reelectionist Sen. Bong Go was the top choice, with a 62.2 percent preference.
The same survey showed Go widening his lead over the second-ranking candidate, administration bet ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, who had a 42.4 percent preference rating.
In the March 2025 iteration of the survey, Go held a 10-point lead over Tulfo. The April survey shows a 20-point advantage over Tulfo and his co-candidates at the 2-4 rank: former Senate president Vicente Sotto III (41.1 percent) and reelectionist Sen. Ronald dela Rosa (41 percent).
Outside the top four, the race for the remaining eight Senate seats is shaping up to be close, with many candidates only one or two percentage points apart.
The poll, a snapshot of public sentiment three weeks before Election Day, indicates that most voters support an average of eight Senate
candidates.
The April 2025 survey will be Pulse Asia’s final publicly released poll before May 12.
Based on the survey, 14 senatorial candidates have a “statistical chance of making it to the winners’ circle.” They are:
Sen. Christopher Go (Rank 1, 62.2%)
ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo (Rank 2-4, 42.4%)
Former Senate president Vicente Sotto III (Rank 2-4, 41.1%)
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa (Rank 2-4, 41%)
Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. (Rank 5-8, 35.6%)
Former Sen. Panfilo Lacson (Rank 5-9, 33.8%)
Ben Tulfo (Rank 5-10, 33.5%)
Sen. Manuel Lapid (Rank 5-11, 32.2%)
Makati City Mayor Mar-len Abigail Binay (Rank 6-13, 30.2%)
Sen. Pia Cayetano (Rank 7-13, 29.9%)
Willie Revillame (Rank 8-14, 28.6%)
Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar (Rank 9-14, 28.3%)
Former Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao (Rank 9-14, 28.3%)
Former Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV (Rank 11-18, 25.4%)
Of the 14, nine are from the administration’s Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas. Two are under former President Rodrigo Duterte, while three are either officially listed or self-styled as independent candidates.
Go and Dela Rosa were long-time aides of Duterte. Revillame, though independent on paper, is a Duterte ally.
Ben Tulfo is the brother of Erwin Tulfo and incumbent Sen. Raffy Tulfo. Bam Aquino, a candidate of the Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, has previously described himself and former Sen. Kiko Pangilinan as part of an “independent” slate.
Just outside the 14 with a statistical chance of winning are:
Reelectionist Sen. Imee Marcos (24.7%)
[]Duterte loyalist Phillip Salvador (23.7%)
Sagip Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (23%)
Former interior secretary Benhur Abalos (22.9%)
Next are:
Former Sen. Kiko Pangilinan (19.8%)
Jimmy Bondoc (16.6%)
Reelectionist Sen. Francis Tolentino (15.7%)
The survey used face-to-face interviews with 2,400 respondents who filled out a sample ballot similar to the one to be used on May 12. It has a margin of error of ±2 percent. Of those surveyed, eight percent voted for withdrawn candidates such as Doc Willie Ong and Wilbert Lee; 7.2 percent refused to fill out the ballot; and 1.8 percent accepted it but left it blank. / Rappler
This story is republished with permission from Rappler as part of a content-sharing partnership for the 2025 midterm elections in the Philippines.