Tulfo brothers top Senate polls; 9 admin bets make it to Magic 12

MANILA, Philippines – Brothers Erwin and Ben Tulfo led the senatorial survey conducted after the filing of the certificate of candidacy (COC), market research firm Tangere announced on Monday.

According to the survey conducted from October 10 to 12, ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo remained prominent to voters, with an increase of 4.5 percent voter preference rate, Tangere Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Martin Penaflor said.

Erwin received a total voter preference rate of 62.33 percent, Penaflor added.

Meanwhile, media personality Ben Tulfo saw a 6.42 percent increase in his voter preference rate, improving his ranking from sixth place last month to second place in the recent polls.

“Voters from Metro Manila, Mindanao, and Northern Luzon were the primary drivers of increase for the 6.42 percent increase of Ben Tulfo, with a total voter preference of 49 percent,” Penaflor explained in a press conference.

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Tangere also noted that nine of the top 12 senators in the recent polls come from the Marcos administration’s slate.

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Among them are incumbent senators Pia Cayetano (46.08 percent), Lito Lapid (31.67 percent), and Francis Tolentino (31.46 percent); former senators Tito Sotto (46.50 percent), Manny Pacquiao (42.21 percent), and Panfilo “Ping” Lacson (38.92 percent); Makati Mayor Abby Binay (36.17 percent); and former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos (33.42 percent).

Penaflor said Mindanao votes garnered by former president Rodrigo Duterte during their September polls were distributed among the Tulfo brothers and Lacson.

“When Duterte didn’t file his COC, his voter preference [rate] from the previous survey, when we analyzed it, went to three major people: Erwin Tulfo, Ben Tulfo, and Ping Lacson. Lacson went from 14th to 7th in one month, and his voter preference is driven by voters 36 years old and above, similar to the voter preference back then of then-president Rodrigo Duterte. His votes were also driven by voters from Calabarzon and Davao Region,” he explained.

Tangere also had anticipated that some of Duterte’s votes would shift to Sen. Bong Go, but they only saw a 0.5 percent voter preference increase from the previous month.

“Our analysis is that people now are no longer aligning Go to the former president,” Penaflor said.

“When you mention Bong Go, what comes to mind first? Last year, it was Duterte—his special aide. Now, if you ask about Bong Go, it’s malasakit (compassion), referring to the Malasakit Program. Duterte is no longer at the top of mind. And that’s the best stage of awareness,” he added in Filipino.

When asked if Go’s involvement in retired police colonel Royina Garma’s exposé on the Duterte administration’s drug war could further impact his standing, Penaflor said this would be revealed in the results of next month’s survey.

READ: Bong Go denies involvement in drug war, rewards system

Also making the top 12 senatorial survey list is Sagip Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, garnering a total voter preference of 31.88 percent.

Marcoleta’s result is driven by respondents from Mindanao, particularly the Davao Region, the market research firm said.

The Tangere national survey was conducted through a mobile-based app with a sample size of 2,400 participants, yielding a margin of error of +/- 1.96 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.

According to Penaflor, only 600 of the 2,400 respondents selected a full 12-seat senatorial lineup.

On average, respondents voted for just eight senators, which the firm attributes to factors such as low candidate awareness and preference.

The survey employed a stratified random sampling method, based on quotas, and was distributed across the country, the market research firm said.

“It included 12 percent of respondents from the National Capital Region, 23 percent from Northern Luzon, 22 percent from Southern Luzon, 20 percent from Visayas, and 23 percent from Mindanao,” Penaflor said.

Tangere, an award-winning market research company focused on technology applications and innovation, is a member of the Marketing and Opinion Research Society of the Philippines and the Philippine Association of National Advertisers.

READ: 4 newcomers, 5 incumbents, 3 ex-senators land in Tangere’s ‘Magic 12’ senatorial survey