Keys to winning PDP bets’ success hotly discussed online

May 16, 2025 , 04:06 PM

By Clarist Mae Zablan

(May 16, 2025) — Of the candidates fielded by the once-ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), three made it into the winning circle based on the partial and unofficial tallies: reelectionists Sen. Bato dela Rosa and Sen. Bong Go, and SAGIP Rep. Rodante Marcoleta.

Their performance in the election also reflects the amount of traction they gained online. On the days leading up to and after election day, the three PDP bets were among the most discussed candidates on social media.

‘Malasakit’ discussed alongside Go

Based on the Philippine senatorial dashboard created through a partnership with MQuest Ventures and Meltwater — a global leader in media, social and consumer intelligence — Go has, compared to other senatorial candidates across parties and alliances, the highest volume of posts mentioning him across platforms from May 9 (12 a.m.) to May 15 (11:59 p.m.).

Go, a frontrunner in several pre-election surveys as well as in the partial and unofficial results, had about 12,600 posts about him during this period, some of which involved netizens discussing how he became popular among voters.

This included online conversations and debates on his ties with the “Malasakit Center” — an initiative created to assist patients seeking medical assistance that was launched in 2017, when Go was still one of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s Palace officials.

At the same time, posts about Go had the widest reach among PDP bets at more than 45.3 million. This is the estimated audience size based on the followers of accounts posting about candidates. They also had the most engagement, receiving 1.21 million actions such as likes, reposts, comments, shares, and favorites.

Bato’s links to drug war draws buzz

Dela Rosa, while being the second most voted PDP bet, had posts about him that enjoyed the second highest reach at 26.5 million. Posts mentioning him also had among the highest volume of posts and engagement actions among his party’s candidates, with nearly 3,000 posts drawing 308,000 engagement actions.

With the senator being No. 3 in the partial and unofficial results, many of the posts about him are talking about his prospective win, including supporters who were congratulating him for his successful reelection.

Some netizens also noted his involvement in the anti-drug campaign under the Duterte administration — with the former president’s arrest and detention at the International Criminal Court (ICC) last March, in connection to the controversial policy, still fresh in the public’s minds. To recall, Dela Rosa was once his police chief, and has been described as an architect of the past administration’s drug war campaign.

ALSO READ: Dela Rosa, who said he’s not afraid of ICC, wants refuge from Senate once ICC orders his arrest

Marcoleta’s win surprises netizens

While third among PDP bets in terms of reach at 16.6 million, posts about Marcoleta surpassed Dela Rosa in terms of volume of posts (close to 7,000) and engagement actions (about 442,000).

Previously a laggard in pre-election surveys, he surprised many when he jumped to No. 6 on the election day itself based on the partial and unofficial results. The surprise also reflected much of the discussions about him during the period. Some speculated on the factors that led to his win, such as the backing he got from Iglesia ni Cristo.

(CD)

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