51% of Filipinos want Sara Duterte to testify at her impeachment trial — Pulse Asia

A slim majority of Filipino adults, or 51%, believe Vice President Sara Duterte should testify in person before the Senate impeachment court, according to a Pulse Asia survey.

The 2026 Nationwide Survey on the Impeachment Case and Trial of the Vice-President showed that the sentiment was shared by majorities of respondents in Metro Manila (66%) and the rest of Luzon (61%).

The same view was expressed by 56% of respondents in socioeconomic Class ABC (upper- and middle-income households) and 53% in Class D (lower-income households).

Meanwhile, 34% of Filipino adults said Duterte should not personally appear before the impeachment court, 14% were undecided, and 1% declined to express an opinion.

Opposition to Duterte's personal appearance was highest in Mindanao, where 61% of respondents said she should not testify.

Nearly half of respondents in Class E (48%), representing the lowest-income households, shared this view.

Knowledge of impeachment case

The survey also found that 53% of Filipino adults admitted knowing little about the impeachment case against Duterte.

This included 48% of respondents in Metro Manila, 55% in the rest of Luzon, 51% in the Visayas, and 52% in Mindanao.

In Class ABC, a slight majority (52%) said they had sufficient knowledge of the case. However, majorities in Class D (54%) and Class E (60%) admitted knowing little about it.

Despite their limited knowledge, 55% of Filipino adults expressed interest in Duterte's impeachment trial.

Another 20% said they were not interested, while 25% were undecided.

The survey also identified the internet (64%) and television (59%) as the leading sources of information about the impeachment proceedings.

Radio was cited by 15% of respondents, while fewer than 1% relied on newspapers.

Meanwhile, 9% of Filipino adults said they were not following the impeachment trial.

Unexplained wealth allegations

The survey also showed that 71% of Filipino adults were aware of the allegations concerning Duterte's supposed unexplained wealth.

However, 39% of respondents said they could not determine whether the allegations were true or false.

"Several changes in awareness levels and public opinion regarding the truthfulness of these allegations occur between July 2026 and September 2026," Pulse Asia said.

According to the polling firm, nationwide awareness of the allegations declined by 10 percentage points between July and September 2026.

The decline was also recorded in Metro Manila (13 percentage points), the rest of Luzon (14 percentage points), Mindanao (9 percentage points), and Class D (11 percentage points).

Methodology

The Pulse Asia survey was conducted from September 17 to 24, 2026, through face-to-face interviews with 2,400 Filipino adults.

It had a margin of error of ±2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Subnational estimates for Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao each had a margin of error of ±4 percentage points at the same confidence level.— MCG, GMA News

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