Survey Reveals Filipinos Trust Vice President More Than President, Less Than Jollibee
Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat
Sara Duterte Polls at 55% Approval, Nation Braces For Discovery That This Number Will Not Be Used Wisely
MANILA — A Pulse Asia survey released this week confirms what Metro Manila jeepney drivers, provincial mayors, and people who have watched Philippine politics for more than fifteen minutes already suspected: Vice President Sara Duterte commands a 55 percent approval rating, a 54 percent trust rating, and an apparently indestructible support base that has survived impeachment complaints, confidential funds controversies, and what analysts are calling “the sustained, concentrated hostility of the entire machinery of the current administration.”
For context, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. currently holds a 36 percent approval and 35 percent trust rating, numbers that the Palace has described as “a work in progress” and observers have described as “the result of governing during a Middle East oil crisis, a corruption scandal, a currency slide, and the sustained, concentrated enthusiasm of his Vice President.”
The 2028 Calculus, Run Publicly
According to a Manila Bulletin analysis, Sara Duterte leads all 2028 presidential surveys at between 33 and 43 percent depending on which polling firm you trust, with Leni Robredo second at around 21 to 27 percent. Raffy Tulfo was third but announced he is not running. Robredo announced she is not running. At this rate, the 2028 presidential race will be between Sara Duterte and the concept of opposition.
Political analysts note that Duterte’s numbers have held steady through everything thrown at them, which in Philippine politics represents either extraordinary popularity or extraordinary futility of throwing things, possibly both. Much as Keir Starmer discovers a new crisis every fortnight without it meaningfully changing his political arithmetic, President Marcos appears to have discovered that generating scandals and Sara Duterte’s poll numbers are unrelated phenomena.
What Happens Next
The House of Representatives, now calculating 2028 electoral math with the precision of people whose jobs depend on it, has reportedly begun a rapid reallocation of loyalties. The National Unity Party says there is “too much division” on the impeachment question, which is political language for “we have done the arithmetic and do not like where it ends.”
The Philippines’ Rappler has documented the slow-motion realignment with characteristic thoroughness. The conclusion, which requires no analysis, is that a candidate polling at 43 percent in a multicandidate field more than two years before the election is, by any reasonable measure, already the frontrunner. The Marcos administration disagrees. Its preferred candidate for 2028 has not yet been announced, which analysts say is because it has not yet been identified.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/mamdani-declares-war-on-empty-mansions/