FORMER SENATORS Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan emerged as the top choices in a university-wide mock senatorial election survey a day before the national and local midterm polls.
The poll, organized by the UST Central Student Council (CSC), gathered responses from 1,715 Thomasians across different colleges and faculties. This represents 4.12% of the 41,605 students enrolled at the University, based on data from the Office of the Registrar.
The College of Science posted the highest turnout in the survey with190 respondents, followed by the College of Commerce and Business Administration with 187 poll respondents.
Aquino received support from 94.64% of the total respondents, narrowly edging out Pangilinan, who was favored by 93.99%. Former Commission on Audit commissioner Heidi Mendoza ranked third with 83.62%, followed by labor leader Luke Espiritu with 75.39%.
Rounding out the top 12 senatorial picks among Thomasians were Arlene Brosas (67.93%); Danilo Ramos (65.25%); Teddy Casiño (64.96%); Ronnel Arambulo (61.34%); Leody de Guzman (58.25%); Sonny Matula (50.96%); Liza Maza (50.44%); and France Castro (50.03%).
The same top four candidates also led in previous student-initiated polls, including one conducted in February by Philosophy student organization UST Concilium Philosophae and another by the Artlets Student Council less than two weeks ago.
Akbayan tops party-list poll
In the party-list race, Akbayan Partylist emerged as the frontrunner, earning 59.08% of student support. Its first nominee is human rights lawyer Chel Diokno.
Kabataan Partylist, led by nominee Renee Co, followed with 17.61%, while the Mamamayang Liberal Partylist of former senator Leila de Lima ranked third at 7.93%. Gabriela and ACT Teachers rounded out the top five with 5.25% and 1.05%, respectively.
The poll was conducted from May 6 to 10 via Google Forms.
Before the survey, the CSC held “Power to the Polls: The UST Voter Empowerment Forum 2025,” which featured 16 senatorial aspirants to foster political engagement within the Thomasian community. The participating candidates tackled education reforms, faculty compensation and political dynasties.
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On May 12, voters will elect 12 senators and 317 members of the House of Representatives, comprising 254 district representatives and 63 party-list seats, in the 2025 national and local elections. F
