Vice President Sara Duterte maintains her lead as the preferred president of Filipino adults in a hypothetical 2028 presidential race — even in three-way or two-way matchups, according to the August 2026 National Momentum Survey.
The non-commissioned survey, conducted from August 18 to 23, asked Filipino adults nationwide who they would vote for if the 2028 presidential elections took place today.
According to the survey, Duterte still leads the hypothetical presidential race, with 45.8% adults saying they would vote for her. She is followed by former Vice President Leni Robredo at 19.5% and Sen. Raffy Tulfo at 13.3%.
Regionally, Duterte’s lead is more apparent in her political stronghold Mindanao, with 78.1% of Filipino adults choosing her as their preferred president. However, 11.7% from the region remain unsure. Other potential bets in the region include Sen. Bong Go (2.5%) and Robredo (2.2%), though support is significantly small.
As the 2028 national election approaches, the survey findings offer a glimpse into the presidential preferences of Filipino adults. It also includes voting estimates in different hypothetical contests where Duterte — the frontrunner — is pitted against other potential presidential candidates, like Robredo, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, and Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.
Recently, Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro was asked if he would run for president in the context of being the Marcos administration’s potential standard bearer, to which he said it was “too early to tell.”
This suggests that while the results are overwhelmingly positive for the current vice president, preferences can still change as more people express interest in running for
president.
Duterte leads Robredo in hypothetical two-way
In a hypothetical two-way matchup, Duterte leads Robredo in Mindanao (85.9% to 3.6%), followed by Visayas (63.4% to 33.3%) and Metro Manila (52.4% to 42.2%).
The only region where Robredo leads is in the Rest of Luzon at 46.4%, but only by a small margin compared with the 43.9% who say they would vote for Duterte.
Along partisan lines, only Pro-Marcos (62.2%) and Pro-Opposition adults (77.4%) prefer Robredo over Duterte for president. Pro-Duterte (95.0%) and Independent adults (49.1%), on the other hand, say they would vote for Duterte.
Among generations, only Baby Boomers are slightly more likely to prefer Robredo at 44.8%. Meanwhile, Gen Zs (61%), Millennials (68.3%), and Gen X (51%) say they prefer Duterte as their president. Baby Boomers, however, also have the highest combined share of undecided at 17.5%, with 7.7% being unsure and 9.8% who refuse to answer.
A combined 8.1% of Filipino adults did not express preference in the two-way matchup, with 4.9% unsure and 3.2% refusing to answer.
It’s important to note that even though the filing for candidacy is still a year away, only Duterte has officially announced her bid for presidency. Robredo, on the other hand, has expressed more hesitation as she aspires to prioritize obligations as Naga City’s mayor. She also believes that three years would be too short to implement her plans for the city.
In a three-way matchup, Remulla receives lowest support
Even against Robredo (31.0%) and Remulla (3.5%), Duterte still leads at 55.5% in a three-way matchup.
Support for Remulla is even lower than the share of unsure adults in this case, which constitute 7.3%.
In this scenario, Robredo receives most support from Pro-Opposition adults (75.4%), followed by Pro-Marcos (45.5%), Independents (35.3%), and Pro-Duterte (6.2%).
Meanwhile, support for Duterte is strongest among Pro-Duterte adults (92.4%). This is followed by Independents (46.1%), Pro-Marcos (45.5%), and Pro-Opposition (20.4%).
Duterte bests Hontiveros in two-way matchup across regions
Duterte leads the hypothetical race against Hontiveros across regions, with Mindanao displaying overwhelming support for the current vice president at 87.4%, followed by Visayas (67.4%), Metro Manila (27.2%), and the Rest of Luzon (53.3%).
Hontiveros’ support is only concentrated outside Mindanao, where about 3 in 10 Filipino adults (30.2%) in Visayas, Rest of Luzon (28.7%), and Metro Manila (27.2%) say they wouldote for her.
Between factions, however, Hontiveros receives majority support from Pro-Marcos (55.2%) and Pro-Opposition (61.9%) adults.
Conducted from August 18 to 23, the National Momentum Survey was carried out through face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,487 Filipino adults. It has a national margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Subnational margins of error are ±6.9% for the National Capital Region, ±3.8% for the Rest of Luzon (North, South, and Central Luzon), ±5.8% for Visayas, and ±5.5% for Mindanao — all at a 95% confidence level.
Find the complete survey results on our public dashboard at momentumresearch.ph.
