Half of Filipino adults would vote for Vice President Sara Duterte if the 2028 presidential election were held today. That’s according to the latest Pulse Asia Research survey, which was conducted while her impeachment trial was underway.
In its September 2026 Ulat ng Bayan survey, released Monday, Oct. 12, Pulse Asia found that 50% of respondents picked Duterte from a list of seven possible presidential candidates. She was followed by Naga City Mayor and former Vice President Leni Robredo (26%) and Sen. Raffy Tulfo (12%).
Further behind were Sen. Risa Hontiveros (3%), Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (1%), Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon (1%) and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong (0.3%). Three percent were undecided and another 3% backed no one.
Ahead in Every Head-to-head
Pulse Asia also tested five alternative match-ups, and Duterte led all of them with 52% to 60%:
- Against Robredo and R. Tulfo: Duterte 52%, Robredo 30%, Tulfo 14%
- Against Sen. Erwin Tulfo and Hontiveros: 57%, 17%, 14%
- Against E. Tulfo and Sen. Bam Aquino: 57%, 18%, 16%
- One-on-one with Robredo: 54% vs 40%
- One-on-one with Hontiveros: 60% vs 23%
A Divided Map
Duterte’s support is “almost universal in Mindanao,” at 92% in the long list, the release said. She also led in the Visayas (56%) and Metro Manila (40%).
The rest of Luzon is the exception. There, Robredo edged Duterte 36% to 28% in the long list, and led 55% to 34% in their head-to-head. In Metro Manila, the two were tied at 46% in a one-on-one race.
Bong Go Leads for Vice President
For vice president, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go led with 31%. He was followed by Sen. Robin Padilla (19%), Sen. Bam Aquino (17%), former Sen. Grace Poe (14%), Sen. Erwin Tulfo (10%), Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan (3%) and MMDA General Manager Nicolas Torre III (0.3%).
Senate: Poe and Cayetano on top
Fifteen of the 66 names tested for senator would have a “statistical chance of winning,” Pulse Asia said. Leading were former Sen. Grace Poe (50.2%) and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano (46.5%), then Sen. Robin Padilla (45.9%) and Sen. Raffy Tulfo (44.4%).
The rest of the list: Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, Manny Pacquiao, Sen. Loren Legarda, Makati Mayor Nancy Binay, Senate President Francis Escudero, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara, Ben Tulfo, TIEZA COO Mark Lapid, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Willie Revillame and former Rep. Mike Defensor.
Only 22% of respondents already have a full slate of 12 senators. The median voter named 8.
Little Change from Earlier Polls
The numbers are close to Pulse Asia’s previous Ulat ng Bayan survey on 2028, published in July. That survey had Duterte at 49%, Robredo at 26% and R. Tulfo at 14% in a similar long list, and Duterte ahead of Robredo 52% to 39% one-on-one.
Interest is High, 20 Months Out
Eighty-nine percent of adults said they are interested in the May 2028 elections, and 57% said they are “truly interested.”
The survey was conducted face to face from Sept. 17 to 24, 2026, with 2,400 adults. It has a margin of error of ±2 percentage points nationwide and ±4 points for each area.
Those dates overlap with the impeachment trial. The release noted that on Sept. 23, the Senate impeachment court voted 13-1 to lower the vote needed to convict from 16 to 14. The survey also came days after the Vice President posted bail on grave-threats charges on Sept. 5.
Pulse Asia said in its statement that “no religious, political, economic, or partisan group influenced” the survey, and that it conducts Ulat ng Bayan surveys “independently without any party singularly commissioning the research effort.”
The filing of candidacies for 2028 is still about a year away, and none of those named have formally declared.
