44% of Pinoys believe Senate ‘deliberately’ delaying VP Sara impeachment — SWS survey

A majority of Filipinos believe the Senate is “deliberately” delaying the start of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The non-commissioned survey showed that of 1,200 Filipino adults, 44% believe the upper chamber is delaying Duterte’s impeachment proceedings.

Meanwhile, 25% do not believe the Senate is delaying the impeachment trial, while 22% are undecided and 9% have no knowledge about the issue.

“The percentage of those who were undecided was highest in Mindanao (25%), followed by Balance Luzon (22%), the Visayas (21%), and Metro Manila (17%),” the SWS survey said.

It also noted that most people who have insufficient knowledge about the issue were in the Visayas, with 13%.

On the other hand, Metro Manila recorded the highest percentage of people aware of Duterte’s impeachment, with 68%.

The survey also reported that the majority of Filipinos disagree with the filing of the fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte, obtaining 42% of the sampling. Those who agree comprise 32% while 18% said they were undecided and 7% said they do not know enough on the issue.

The opposition was highest in Mindanao, with a net agreement score of -52, followed by the Visayas, with a net score of -18. Metro Manila garnered the highest agreement score of +12.

“In all areas, the percentage of those who were undecided ranged from 16% to 18%, while those who did not have enough knowledge about the matter ranged from 5% to 8%,” SWS said.

The non-commissioned survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews from June 25-29, 2025.

It has sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Senate impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol earlier said the Senate is not holding off Duterte’s impeachment.

“Claims of foot-dragging are baseless as actions speak louder than words,” Tongol said.

Duterte has entered a “not guilty” plea in the verified impeachment complaint filed against her by the House of Representatives.

The Vice President's impeachment complaint includes issues surrounding the use of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, and alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings in Davao City.

The complaint also includes her “assassination” remarks against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Meanwhile, the House under the 20th Congress has yet to submit the second certification concerning its willingness to prosecute.

This came after the Senate sitting as an impeachment court voted to return to the House of Representatives the articles of impeachment against Duterte without dismissing or terminating them.

Even before the impeachment court convened, senator-judge Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, an ally of the Duterte family moved for the dismissal of the impeachment complaint against the Vice President. — RF, GMA Integrated News