Pulse Asia: 51% want Sara Duterte to testify in person at impeachment trial

MANILA – A little over half of Filipino adults believe Vice President Sara Duterte should personally testify before the Senate impeachment court, while a plurality remains undecided on whether allegations of her unexplained wealth are true, according to a Pulse Asia survey released Wednesday.

The September 17 to 24 survey found that 51 percent of respondents wanted Duterte to take the witness stand in her impeachment trial, while 34 percent said she should not testify. Another 14 percent were undecided, and 1 percent refused to answer.

Support for Duterte’s personal appearance was highest in Metro Manila at 66 percent, followed by the rest of Luzon at 61 percent. In socioeconomic classes, 56 percent of respondents in Class ABC and 53 percent in Class D said she should testify.

In contrast, 61 percent of respondents in Mindanao said Duterte should not personally testify, while 43 percent in the Visayas shared the same view.

The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 2,400 adults aged 18 and above nationwide. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

The survey also found that 71 percent of Filipino adults were aware of allegations that Duterte possessed unexplained wealth or assets disproportionate to her lawful income.

Among those aware of the allegations, 39 percent could not say whether the claims were true or false. Meanwhile, 30 percent said the allegations were not true, while 29 percent considered them true. Another 3 percent said they did not have enough knowledge to give an opinion.

In Metro Manila, 41 percent of respondents who were aware of the allegations considered them true, compared with 21 percent who said they were not true.

In Mindanao, however, 71 percent of those aware of the allegations said they were not true, while only 6 percent considered them true.

The findings also showed a shift in public awareness since July. Awareness of the unexplained wealth allegations fell by 10 percentage points, from 81 percent in July to 71 percent in September.

The proportion of respondents who could not determine whether the allegations were true or false rose by 7 percentage points, from 32 percent to 39 percent. Meanwhile, those who considered the allegations untrue declined from 38 percent to 30 percent.

Prosecutors on Tuesday dropped three impeachment articles and retained only the unexplained wealth charge against Duterte. 

Despite limited knowledge of the case, 55 percent of Filipino adults said they were interested in Duterte’s impeachment trial, while 20 percent expressed disinterest. Another 25 percent could not say whether they were interested.

Pulse Asia found that 53 percent of respondents knew little about the impeachment case, while 35 percent said they had sufficient knowledge. Six percent said they had almost no or no knowledge at all, and 5 percent claimed to have a great deal of knowledge.

The internet was the leading source of information about the trial, cited by 64 percent of respondents, followed by television at 59 percent. News reports on the internet and television were each cited by 58 percent.

Radio was cited by 15 percent of respondents, while less than 1 percent identified newspapers as a source of information. Nine percent said they were not following the impeachment trial.

The survey also found that 60 percent of Filipino adults expected some senator-judges to be fair in deciding Duterte’s impeachment case while others would not be.

Twenty percent believed the senators would be fair and would not favor anyone, while 17 percent believed the senator-judges would be unfair and favor someone. Four percent said they did not know, while less than 1 percent refused to answer.

Meanwhile, public opinion was divided on the impeachment process’s effect on Philippine democracy.

Thirty-nine percent could not say whether the process had a positive or negative impact, while 31 percent said it had a negative impact and 30 percent said it had a positive impact.

Respondents in Mindanao were more likely to view the process negatively, with 43 percent saying it had a negative effect on democracy, compared with 21 percent who saw a positive effect.

The September survey was conducted as the impeachment court debated the voting threshold for conviction. On September 23, the Senate impeachment court voted 13-1 to lower the threshold from 16 votes to 14, with only senator-judges deemed legally and factually capable of participating in the proceedings allowed to vote.

Duterte and her camp have denied all allegations against her, with the vice president recently claiming that the accusations were intended to undermine her plans to run in the 2028 elections. A conviction could also disqualify Duterte from holding public office.