Tight race in 2028 seen in Leni, Sara tandems – poll

MANILA, Philippines — A tight race is expected if a hypothetical tandem of Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo and Sen. Raffy Tulfo faces the tandem of Vice President Sara Duterte and Sen. Imee Marcos in the 2028 elections, according to a survey conducted by the OCTA Research group.

Results of the July 4 to 11 survey showed that 45 percent of the respondents would support Robredo and Tulfo if they ran together for president and vice president, respectively.

It was slightly up but statistically tied with the 42 percent who said they would support a Duterte-Marcos tandem.

The remaining 13 percent either said none, don’t know or refused to answer the survey question.

Support for Robredo and Tulfo increased from 44 percent compared to a similar survey in March, while support for Duterte and Marcos increased from 40 percent.

OCTA said the results showed that a tandem landscape remains highly competitive and unsettled.

“The central implication of the results is that Robredo-Tulfo and Duterte-Marcos are now statistically in a dead heat,” it said.

“With 13 percent of the electorate still undecided, rejecting both tandems or declining to answer, a meaningful share of voters have yet to commit to either side, leaving real room for the national picture to move further in either direction before 2028,” it added.

Among the four, only Duterte had declared her intention to run for higher office in 2028. Robredo has ruled out another presidential bid and said she prefers to run for a second term as Naga City mayor.