Vice President Sara Duterte’s voter preference jumped to 48 percent in the latest Tangere presidential preferential survey (up five points from February) after Senator Raffy Tulfo announced he will not seek higher office in the 2028 elections.
The shift follows Tulfo’s decision to remain in the Senate, triggering a consolidation of support among voters who previously backed the senator.
About 33 percent of respondents who earlier identified Tulfo as their top presidential choice moved their support to Duterte, producing one of the most immediate realignments recorded in the latest polling period.
The movement is most visible among female voters who previously supported Tulfo, many of whom now align with Duterte following his withdrawal from a potential presidential bid.
Duterte also posted increased support in the National Capital Region and Northern Luzon, areas where Tulfo had earlier maintained strong voter backing.
Her voter preference rose from 43 percent to 48 percent within two weeks, placing the Vice President within reach of the 50 percent majority threshold in the presidential preference survey — an extremely rare situation with well over two years before the next Presidential elections.
The non-commissioned survey was conducted from March 3 to March 6, 2026, using a mobile-based respondent application with 1,200 participants nationwide and a ±2.77 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level. Respondents were distributed across NCR, Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao through stratified random sampling.
