Defense ‘happy’ with higher satisfaction score vs prosecution, but ‘would focus on job’
Defense counsels listen during Day 39 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte at the Senate of the Philippines in Pasay City on Tuesday, October 13, 2026. The court tackled administrative matters, including the handling of confidential documents in the prosecution’s formal offer of evidence. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense team on Monday acknowledged the higher satisfaction rating that they got against the prosecution team in a recent survey, but underscored that they prefer to “focus on the job at hand” as these numbers “can easily change.”
Last month, a Social Weather Stations survey among 1,500 Filipinos showed that the defense team’s net satisfaction rating was at +23 percent, while the prosecution panel got a net satisfaction score of -5.
Defense spokesperson Michael Poa said the panel is happy about it but would not want to comment further.
“We didn’t want to look like we are gloating,” he said.
“We’d rather just still keep our heads down and focus on the job at hand,” he added.
The survey was conducted between September 21 and 27, before House prosecutors dropped allegations of misuse of confidential funds, bribery and grave threats against the Vice President, and before the prosecution concluded its presentation of evidence.
The impeachment trial resumed on November 9 with the vice president’s legal team presenting its own witnesses to disprove accusations of unexplained wealth before the Senate tribunal.