Salceda-Co tandem widens lead in Albay gubernatorial race

MANILA, Philippines — The tandem of Albay Rep. Joey Salceda and Diday Co still leads the Albay gubernatorial race for the 2025 midterm elections, a survey from polling firm Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Monday showed.

According to SWS, the survey conducted from March 29 to April 5 showed that in the battle of former Albay governors, Salceda still leads against former Legazpi City mayor Noel Rosal, getting 44 percent of votes against Rosal’s 32 percent.

Salceda’s 44 percent share of votes is higher than the previous 38 percent recorded in March 2025. Rosal’s share also grew, up from 29 percent in March, but Salceda’s lead grew from nine percentage points to twelve percentage points.

READ: Joey Salceda leads survey for gubernatorial race in Albay — SWS

Getting 44 percent of votes is seen to translate into around 418,000 votes for Salceda, while Rosal, his closest opponent, will have around 302,000 votes if elections were held during the polling period.

Co meanwhile also leads Rosal’s running-mate, former journalist and broadcaster Jun Alegre, by 37 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Co’s numbers were up by seven percentage points compared to the March data.

Salceda, an economist by profession, was a former three-term governor from 2007 to 2016. He made a return to the House of Representatives—a position he once held before running for governor—during the 17th, 18th, and 19th Congress.

Rosal meanwhile was a former Legazpi mayor, starting his stint in 2001, ending in 2010. He ran and won the Albay gubernatorial race in 2022, but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) granted a petition seeking his disqualification, for supposedly violating election laws on public fund spending during an election.

Comelec then disqualified Rosal on Elections from running in the 2025 elections as he was dismissed and permanently barred from holding any public office by the Office of Ombudsman for reassigning government officers.

However, the Supreme Court revoked the poll body’s decision.