MANILA, Philippines — More than a quarter, 28%, of respondents in a Pulse Asia survey in June would have voted for Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte for president and nearly a fifth, 18%, would have voted for her father President Rodrigo Duterte for vice president if elections were held then, the pollster said.
The survey was conducted on June 7 to 16 and respondents were asked who they would vote for if elections were held on the day that they answered it.
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Manila Mayor Isko Moreno was in second place (14%), with former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. close behind (13%).
The latest Ulat ng Bayan poll surveyed 2,400 respondents aged 18 years old and above. It has an error margin of ± 2% error margin at a 95% confidence level.
While the Davao City mayor has yet to formally announce her plans for the coming elections, several political parties allied with the current Duterte administration as well as officials working for the president have indicated support for her. Tarpaulins have also been put up in different parts of the country urging her to run.
President Duterte has been saying that he wouldn’t want his daughter to run for president. His spokesperson Harry Roque — who has also aligned with Mayor Duterte — said in June that he wanted her to run.
Mayor Duterte, after months of rejecting calls for her to run, said last week that she is "open" to joining the presidential race in 2022, although she stressed there is no final decision yet. Her apparent hesitancy to announce her candidacy is reminiscent of her father's last-minute decision to run in the 2016 elections.
62% in Mindanao back Sara
Sixty-two percent of respondents from Mindanao said they would vote for Sara Duterte. In Metro Manila, 16% said they would pick the Davao City mayor as chief executive had the elections been conducted on the day of survey.
Manila Mayor Moreno meanwhile was the top pick among Metro Manila respondents with 23%, which was only slightly higher than Marcos’ 22%.
Other potential presidential bets had much lower scores on the survey:
- Sen. Grace Poe, 10%
- Sen. Manny Pacquiao, 8%
- Vice President Leni Robredo, 6%
- Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, 4%
- Sen. Bong Go, 3%
- Former Vice President Jejomar Binay, 2%
- Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig), 2%
Vice presidential bets
President Duterte meanwhile was the top choice for vice president, with 18% saying they would vote for him if elections were held on day of survey.
Like his daughter, the president was also the top pick among Mindanao respondents, but he only obtained 35% of preference, over Sara Duterte’s 62%.
Moreno also came in second in the vice-presidential poll with 14%. Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III tied for fourth with former Sen. Marcos coming with each getting 10% of respondents' hypothetical votes.
Pacquiao came in fifth with nine percent of respondents saying they would vote for him for vice president.
President Duterte, as in the prelude to the 2016 polls, has yet to give a straight answer on whether he will run for vice president as a faction in the administration PDP-Laban want.
In his public address aired Monday night, Duterte said: "Ako naman ‘yung vice president ko pantakot lang sa kanila ‘yan." He also said in a previous speech that people should consider him as already running for vice president.
The president continued: “[K]aya ako, if it is good for the country I will do it. If it does not contribute anything to our Republic, then huwag na lang.”