Alyansa’s front-runners vow to help allies behind in surveys (2025)

SAN FERNANDO CITY, Pampanga — Two of the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas’ front-runners in the May elections have vowed to do everything possible to help two teammates lagging in recent surveys.

In separate interviews, former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo said they will campaign for other members of the Alyansa who are outside of the Magic 12 circle, and tell voters that they also are deserving of their votes because of their good track record.

The two Alyansa candidates lagging in surveys are former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and Sen. Francis Tolentino.

“Tomorrow we’ll be going to Quirino province na hindi pupwedeng maging kampante. Pero at the same time, hindi lang, personal na lakad ko ‘yon (but) I will be bringingthe whole Alyansa, I mean, ika-campaign ko pa rin ‘yong Alyansa do’n lalo na ‘yong dalawang kasamahan namin na lagging behind, sasabihin ko na we really need help,” Tulfo told reporters on the sidelines of a local sortie here.

(Tomorrow we’ll be going to Quirino province, and we cannot be complacent. But at the same time, while that is my personal trip, I will be bringing the whole Alyansa, I mean, I will campaign for Alyansa there, especially for our two colleagues lagging, and I will say that we really need help.)

“Kanina nga lang when I was speaking here, talking here, sabi ko kailangan ko po ng mga kasamahan ko sa Alyansa kasi kung iba-iba po ang bobotohin po ninyo, hindi po ‘yon Alyansa, mahahaluan po tayo ng iba, baka po mahirapan po akong kumuha ng mga majority ng votes dahil numbers game po sa Senado para maipasa ang isang batas,” he added.

(A while ago while I was speaking here, talking here, I said my colleagues in Alyansa need help because if you would vote for different candidates, that is no longer an alliance because we will have other candidates with us, we will find it hard to get majority of votes because passing laws in the Senate is still a numbers game.)

Sotto said Alyansa would just have to inform the people about what the candidates stand for and of their track record — which was a major factor in how President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. came out with his Senate lineup.

“We just have to keep on informing the people of what we stand for, what they stand for,and what they will be able to do.Kailangan, informasyon sa ating mga kababayan at malaman nila na ‘yong line-up na kasama namin ay pinagpiliian kami,” Sotto said.

(We just have to keep on informing the people of what we stand for, what they stand for,and what they will be able to do.We need to give information to our people, so that they will know that we in the line-up were handpicked.)

“May mga gusto sumama dito sa line-up na ‘to pero ang pinili nila, ang pinili ng Alyansa ‘yong may mga track record, may mga experience, merong ‘ika nga mga pinanggalingan na nakatulong na sa bansa,” he added.

(Some wanted to join us in the line-up but Alyansa picked those with track record, those with experience, and those who have already helped the country.)

According to the Pulse Asia survey conducted from March 23 to 29, Tulfo ranked second, while Sotto was fourth. Both men are behind Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) stalwarts Sen. Bong Go who is first and Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who ranked third.

Abalos and Tolentino are both inside the 19 to 22 positions, which is way below the Magic 12.

READ: Reelectionist Bong Go leads Pulse Asia survey on senatorial bets

In the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, Abalos and Tolentino are also outside the Magic 12, ranking 18th and 21st, respectively.

READ: SWS: Go, 9 Alyansa Senate bets top poll

Aside from Tolentino and Abalos, Sotto was also asked about his running mate in the 2022 national elections, former presidential bet and ex-Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, whose ranking in surveys have fluctuated.

Lacson ranked 7th in the Pulse Asia poll, but fell to 11th under the SWS survey.

According to Sotto, surveys being done in different areas — where one candidate may not be as popular as compared to other areas — may explain the issue.

“We should always take it in stride, but then again, dapat ‘yon medyo inaalagaan at tinitignan kung bakit, kasi do’n naman sa isang survey, sa Pulse Asia survey, mataas naman siya. As a matter of fact tabla yata kami, sa nakaraang survey. Hindi naman nakakapag-taka ‘yong gumagalaw ang ranking mo,” Sotto said.

(We should always take it in stride, but then again, we should know and understand why that is the case. Because in the Pulse Asia survey, he ranked high, as a matter of fact we were tied in the previous survey. But it’s not surprising that your ranking moves.)

“Kasi depending kung saan kinuha ‘yong survey. Ang survey, for everybody’s information, hindi the same place all the time, hindi in the same province all the time. Every survey nila palipat-lipat ‘yan, patalon-talon ‘yan. They don’t stick to one province. So maaaring may probinsya na mapuntahan na mahina ka, at syempre bababa ang figures, numbers mo do’n,” he explained.

(Because that depends on where the survey was obtained. A survey, for everybody’s information, is not taken from the same place all the time, not from the same province all the time. Every survey, they would go around, they don’t stick to one province. So it is possible that there is a province where the pollsters will go and you are not as popular there, naturally your numbers would drop.)

Earlier, Tulfo admitted that Alyansa bets expected backlash and lower survey rankings after former President Rodrigo Duterte was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last March.

During the latter part of 2024, Alyansa was dominating the senatorial race, with 10 of the then 12-person slate being included in the Magic 12. Tulfo was also the consistent topnotcher in different surveys.

After Duterte’s arrest, the ranking ofGo and dela Rosa surged.

However, Tulfo said he is still thankful with his current ranking — noting that the slip from their previous ranks in surveys was not that massive.