Senator Bam Aquino has emerged as the most favorable lawmaker in the country for the third consecutive quarter, according to the Publicus Asia PAHAYAG 2026 Second Quarter Survey. Conducted from June 28 to 30, 2026, with 1,509 respondents, the poll shows Aquino securing a 57 percent net favorable rating, with 29 percent rating him very favorable and 28 percent rating him favorable. He also registered the lowest unfavorable rating among all senators at 19 percent, resulting in an unmatched net gap of +37, which is more than double that of his closest peer. This performance maintains a steady track record of strong public support, building on his 59 percent net favorable rating in the first quarter of 2026 and 54 percent in the 2025 end-of-year survey. Notably, Publicus Asia was the only polling firm to accurately predict Aquino’s second-place finish in the 2025 senatorial elections.

Public education remains the cornerstone of Aquino’s high approval ratings, with 30 percent of respondents pointing to his role in passing the Free College Law and 23 percent citing his work in securing higher education budgets. As chairperson of the Committee on Basic Education, Aquino helped secure a historic 1.34-trillion-peso education budget for 2026, marking the largest in the country’s history. This funding allocation includes 67.9 billion pesos to construct 25,000 classrooms to help chip away at the national backlog of 166,000 classrooms, alongside 37 billion pesos dedicated to implementing the Free College Law. Looking forward, the senator is also pushing for the passage of his proposed School Safety Act, an initiative aimed at strengthening security and anti-bullying measures within educational institutions.

Beyond infrastructure and funding, the survey highlights that 60 percent of voters view Aquino as independent-minded and resilient against external political pressures. This reputation for independent leadership has been on display during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, where Aquino, serving as a senator-judge, demanded total transparency by calling for all prosecution and defense evidence to be made public. He has also demonstrated a commitment to government accountability by openly questioning the slow rollout of the 67-billion-peso classroom construction fund that he previously helped secure.

Aquino is simultaneously targeting economic relief for the working and middle classes by advocating for the suspension of excise taxes on petroleum products and proposing a reduction of the value-added tax from 12 percent to 10 percent. Furthermore, in his role as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce, and Entrepreneurship, he has committed to advancing the welfare of micro, small, and medium enterprises. Through these targeted commercial measures, Aquino aims to help local businesses expand their market reach and ultimately create more jobs for everyday Filipinos.