FORMER LAWMAKERS Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV topped a pre-election survey on senatorial candidates answered by Philosophy students from the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB).
A total of 150 out of 208 undergraduate students or 72.11% participated in the poll, which was conducted by Philosophy student organization UST Concilium Philosophae.
Among 66 candidates vying for 12 Senate seats, Pangilinan and Aquino were chosen by 88% and 84.7% of the respondents, respectively.
Labor leader and activist Luke Espiritu ranked third with 65.3%. Heidi Mendoza, a former acting head of the Commission on Audit, closely followed with 61.3% while labor leader Leody de Guzman was chosen by 58.7% of the respondents.
ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro and Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas were tied with 38.7% votes. Also among the top 12 were Danilo Ramos (37.3%), Teddy Casino (36%), Ronnel Arambulo (29.3%), Liza Maza (26%) and Sonny Matula (23.3%).
Concilium Philosophae chancellor John Austine Gan said the organization implemented several precautionary measures to ensure the credibility of the poll, such as restricting access to survey results to a select group of officers, conducting multiple checks to ensure accuracy and consulting industry professionals for guidance. He added that the results were verified by the UST Office of the Councilor for Finance and Audit.
“The survey aimed to raise awareness about the upcoming elections and encourage engagement beyond traditional academic events and classroom discussions. It was conducted early to ensure that voters would have ample time to use the results to make more informed voting decisions and refine their political outlook,” Gan told The Flame.
Preferred party-lists
In the party-list race, Akbayan topped the list after garnering 28.7% of the respondents’ votes. Its first nominee is Chel Diokno, a lawyer and activist who is also a member of Aquino’s political party Katipunan ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino.
The Kabataan party-list, whose first nominee is lawyer Renee Co, ranked second with 16%, while the Mamamayang Liberal party-list, which has former senator Leila de Lima as its first nominee, placed third with 14%.
Gabriela (10.7%), Bayan Muna (4%) and ACT Teachers (3.3%) were also among the most favored party-lists.
The respondents were also asked to enumerate the qualities they look for in candidates. “Transparent,” “accountable,” “clean track record” and “competent” were the most common answers.
When asked what issues they believe the senatorial and party-list candidates should prioritize, Philosophy students cited problems in education, healthcare, poverty and corruption, among others areas.
Philosophy student Clarence Isaac Mindo, who led the conduct of the survey, noted that the results have since been reposted by some of the candidates.
“We attribute this recognition to the fact of how proactive the organization is, committed to setting the standards of organizational management and student leadership, [and] moving towards communal initiatives and civic participation, beyond traditional projects and programs,” Mindo said.
According to the survey head, the project titled “REAL CHOICE: Ritmo ng Pilosopiya at Praktika” was disseminated to the Philosophy students via Google forms. The 72.11% response rate yielded a 95% confidence level with a 4% margin of error. Among the 150 total participants, 71% are registered voters, with 54% saying it would be their first time to vote in the midterm elections this May.
A total of 12 Senate seats and 317 House seats will be contested in the 2025 midterm national polls. F — with reports from Von Zyron Alimorong
