Palace on SWS poll: Pinoys' sentiment on VP Sara impeachment respected

Malacañang on Wednesday said it respects the sentiment of Filipinos on the filing of the fourth impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, as shown in a recent survey which found that more of them disagreed with the move.

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro conveyed the administration's view on one of the key findings of Social Weather Stations (SWS) for the second quarter of 2025, even as it distanced President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. anew from the impeachment trial proceedings.

"Kung anuman po ang sentimiyento ng taumbayan, igagalang naman po natin iyan. At muli, ayaw po ng Pangulo na maipahid sa atin, sa administrasyon iyong impeachment trial dahil ito po ay nasa kamay na po ng mga senador. So, kung ano po ang kanilang move ‘no sa impeachment trial, nasa kamay na po nila iyan," Castro said in a briefing. 

(Whatever the sentiment of the public, we will respect it. Again, the President does not want the impeachment trial to be connected with the administration because it's already in the hands of the senators. So, whatever their move is, it's in their hands.) 

The SWS survey, conducted from June 25 to 29 this year, found that 42% of the 1,200 adult Filipino respondents disagreed with the filing of the fourth impeachment complaint. 

Meanwhile, 32% agreed, 18% were undecided, and 7% said they did not know enough about the issue.

In total, the net agreement score for the Philippines was -10.

Opposition was strongest in Mindanao with a net agreement score of -52, followed by the Visayas at -18. 

Metro Manila garnered the highest net agreement score of +12, followed by Balance Luzon (areas in Luzon outside of National Capital Region) with +7.

The non-commissioned survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has stated that he is against Duterte's impeachment, but the Vice President and her allies have blamed him for being behind alleged plans to remove her from office.

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

The SWS survey included a statement card indicating a timeline of events from the filing of the fourth impeachment complaint last December up to its transmittal to the Senate in February. 

The statement card likewise indicated allegations against Duterte as provided in the complaint, including issues surrounding the use of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, and supposed 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.

Duterte has since denied the allegations thrown against her. — VDV, GMA Integrated News