Sara Duterte continues to lead in latest Pulse Asia survey of possible 2022 presidential bets

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte continued to widen her lead over other possible contenders for president in 2022, the latest Pulse Asia survey showed.

This, despite her earlier statement asking pollsters to remove her name from the list of possible presidential candidates for next year.

According to the report, the President's daughter emerged as the number one choice for president if the May 2022 elections would be held today, getting 27 percent.

Former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. ranked second with 13 percent, followed by Senator Grace Poe and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno with 12 percent each and Senator Manny Pacquiao with 11 percent. 

The survey was conducted on February 22 to March 3, 2021 with 2,400 respondents aged 18 years old and above. The study has +/- 2 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.

The survey was non-commissioned.

“If the May 2022 elections were held during the survey period, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte would be declared as the winner in the presidential race with a national voter preference of 27,” the polling firm said.

In the December 2020 survey, Sara Duterte also led the pack with 26 percent. 

Sara Duterte got the majority of support from Visayas and Mindanao with 21 and 60 percent, respectively.

Marcos, who recently lost his electoral protest in his 2016 run for vice president, received majority of the electoral support from Balanced Luzon with 19%.

Moreno got the highest support from Metro Manila with 24 percent.

Ranked No. 6 was Vice President Leni Robredo (7 percent), followed by Senator Bong Go (5 percent), former Vice President Jejomar Binay (3 percent), Senator Panfilo Lacson (2 percent), Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano  (2 percent) and Senator Richard Gordon (1 percent).

Others who got less than one percent were former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro with 0.3 percent and retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio with 0.2 percent.

Senators

For the senatorial slate in 2022, Pacquiao still topped the ranking with 58.9 percent rating.

He was followed by Domagoso with 53 percent.

Sharing the third to seventh place are broadcaster Raffy Tulfo (48.1 percent), Sara Duterte (47.5 percent), Sorsogon Governor Francis Escudero (46.6 percent), Antique Rep. Loren Legarda (46.2 percent).

Cayetano followed the rank with (44.4 percent), Bongbong Marcos (40.7 percent), Lacson (38.1 percent), Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri (38.1 percent), host Willie Revillame (34.3 percent), former Senator Jinggoy Estrada (30.1 percent), Senator Sherwin Gatchalian (28.1 percent), former Vice President Binay (27.1 percent), and Senator Francis Pangilinan (26.9 percent).—Hana Bordey/LDF, GMA News