Philippines: Sara Duterte tops presidential poll, dad Rodrigo tops vice presidential poll

DUTERTES ON TOP: If elections were held today, July 14, 2021, Sara Duterte and her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, will win hands down — as president and vice president, respectively. That’s what a new survey released Tuesday (July 13, 2021) shows.

POLLSTER: Pulse Asia, a respected Manila-based pollster, conducted the survey from June 7 to 16, 2021. It showed 28% — more than 1 out of 4 Filipino adults — would write Sara Duterte, current mayor Davao City in southern Philippines, on the presidential ballot.

HIGH RATING: Sara's latest rating edged slightly higher than the previous Pulse Asia survey in November-December 2020, which gave her 26%. In the latest survey, 18% of Filipinos said they would vote President Duterte for vice president.

MINDANAO ROOTS FOR SARA: Sara rules the roost among Mindanao voting-age adults, with 62% of respondents in the country’s resource-rich region supporting her possible presidential bid. She recently declared she was “open” to the idea of running for president. No other possible contender comes close to Sara's ratings in Mindanao, a known regional stronghold of the Dutertes.

NARROWER LEAD IN VP RATINGS: Political analysts, however, ask the question: if the younger Duterte stands to get 28% as a presidential candidate, and rides on the popularity of her father, why did her populist father, President Rodrigo Duterte, get 10% less rating (at 18%), as a vice-presidential contender?

STAR APPEAL: In a 15-way race, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno (Francisco Domagoso), a former actor, is a not-too-distant second, with 14% of the possible votes, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey.

ISKO, BONGBONG FACTORS: The wildly popular Mayor of Manila, Isko Moreno, placed a distant second among “presidentiables”, with a rating of 14% in a possible 15-way presidential race. Close on the heels of Moreno are Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (13%), Senator Grace Poe (10%), and Senator Manny Pacquiao (8%). They also made it to the top 5 in December last year. In Metro Manila, however, Moreno and Marcos are neck and neck, scoring 23% and 22%, respectively, in a region where Sara's rating is 16%.

OPPOSITION LEADER: Vice President Leni Robredo, of the opposition placed sixth with 6% of respondents saying they would vote for her. She is closely followed by Senator Panfilo Lacson (4%), Duterte's longtime aide Senator Bong Go (3%), former vice president Jejomar Binay (2%), and Taguig-Pateros Representative Alan Peter Cayetano (2%). Robredo in Marawi City following the rout of the extremist rebels and their leaders who took over the city for five months from May to October 2017.


AGAINST THE IDEA: Sara, a lawyer like her father, is reportedly against the idea of a Duterte-Duterte ticker in the May 2022 national elections.

TERM LIMIT: Philippine presidents have a constitutionally-prescribed limit of single, six-year term. Constitutionalists argue a vice-presidential run by President Duterte, would invite a Constitutional challenge, as the vice president becomes president should the head of state become incapacitated.

POLL: The recent poll was the firs Pulse Asia survey that included President Duterte as a possible vice presidential bet. It shows Duterte leading the race with a slim lead over Moreno. To Duterte's 18%, Moreno scored 14%, followed by Senator Vicente Sotto III (10%), Marcos (10%), and Pacquiao (9%).

JEWISH DESCENT: Sara is of Jewish descent. A lesser-known fact about her family is that her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, 72, with whom the Philippine leader has three children, is of Jewish descent.


MIDDLE EASTERN ROOTS: The father of Elizabeth Zimmerman (Sara's mother) was a German Jew who fled Nazi Germany and obtained a visa to the Philippines along with approximately 1,300 European Jews. The President and Elizabeth has three children — Sara, Paolo and Sebastian — who are of Jewish descent. Sara and her father visited Israel in 2018.

'DREAM TEAM': Some supporters on Wednesday (July 14, 2021) said a father-daughter tandem is a “dream team”. If Sara wins, she would be the third president who were children of previous presidents. The other two are Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal) and Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III (son of former president Corazon Aquino).

BACKDOOR ENTRY: President Duterte’s critics believe he may be eyeing a backdoor entry to a second term, which is currently barred by the constitution. If he wins vice presidency, he could retain power though at No. 2 position, then possibly taking over as president from an ally — his own daughter — who now stands a good chance of winning. Sara then could resign before she completes four years, and run another time, possibly ringfencing the country’s leadership for 18 years with a Duterte in the Malacanang palace..

BACKING FOR DUTERTE POLICIES: The poll, which suggests a Duterte-Duterte tandem could be a winning ticket for the 2022 presidential elections, suggests widespread public backing for the maverick leader to stay in power longer.

SURVEY: The Pulse Asia survey was conducted from June 7 and 16, 2021 among 2,400 respondents.

SUCCESSOR: Duterter’s daughter Sara succeeded him as Davao mayor. The latest poll published July 13, 2021 shows she is ahead of 14 other potential presidential candidates, including Filipino boxing icon and politician Manny Pacquiao. Last week, Sara, 42, was quoted in media as saying she was open to running for president, months after telling Reuters she had no interest in the job. The president on Monday, however, reiterated he did not want Sara to run to spare her “from the vagaries of politics in the Philippines”.