By Tracy Cabrera
Senator ‘Raffy’ Tulfo and former lady senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo and former senator Grace Poe emerged as the leading choices in Tangere’s latest senatorial preference survey for the 2028 elections, following the exclusion of three personalities who had previously ranked among the frontrunners.
Tulfo received 39.9 percent voter preference, while Poe posted 36.7 percent in the noncommissioned survey conducted by Tangere from Sept. 10 to 14.
Tangere said Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and former vice president Leni Robredo were excluded from the latest poll after they said they would not seek Senate seats in 2028. Sotto had led the August survey with 42.1 percent, while Moreno and Robredo each recorded 30.8 percent.
Former senator Manny Pacquiao registered 32.5 percent, up from 28 percent in the August survey. Sen. Robin Padilla posted 34 percent, followed by Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte at 33.7 percent, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte at 32.8 percent and media personality Ben Tulfo at 30.8 percent, according to the survey results reported by The Manila Times.
Other names in the survey included Sen. Francis Escudero at 27.3 percent, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano at 26.6 percent, Education Secretary Sonny Angara at 23.6 percent, former senatorial candidate Chel Diokno at 22.9 percent and Sen. Loren Legarda at 22.5 percent.
Tangere attributed changes in voter preference partly to the removal of Sotto, Moreno and Robredo from the list of potential candidates, which it said affected support patterns in Metro Manila, Southern Luzon and the Bicol Region.
The survey reflects voter preferences more than a year before the filing of candidacies for the 2028 elections, and the field may still change substantially before election day.