Majority of Filipinos want Sara to testify in impeach trial, survey says

MANILA, Philippines — A slim majority of Filipinos want Vice President Sara Duterte to personally testify before the Senate impeachment court, according to Pulse Asia Research’s September 2026 Ulat ng Bayan survey.

Conducted from Sept. 17 to 24 through face-to-face interviews with 2,400 representative adults aged 18 and above, the survey has a margin of error of ±2 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

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The survey found that 51 percent of Filipino adults believe Duterte should personally testify before the court.

Meanwhile, 34 percent said she should not appear, 14 percent were undecided, and 1 percent declined to state their opinion.

On the respondents’ knowledge of the impeachment case, 53 percent said they know little about it, while 6 percent reported having almost no knowledge or no knowledge at all.

Meanwhile, 35 percent said they have sufficient, though not extensive, knowledge of the case, while 5 percent reported having a great deal of knowledge.

Despite the limited familiarity reported by most respondents, 55 percent expressed interest in her impeachment trial.

Another 25 percent were undecided, while 20 percent said they were not interested in the proceedings.

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Sources of information

Respondents were also asked where they obtain information about Duterte’s impeachment trial.

The internet (64 percent) and television (59 percent) were the leading sources of information. News reports on these platforms were cited by 58 percent of respondents each.

Radio was identified as a source of information by 15 percent of adults, while less than 1 percent said they obtained information about the trial from newspapers.

The survey also found that 9 percent of Filipino adults were not monitoring the Vice President’s impeachment trial.

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Moreover, 71 percent of adults said they are aware of the allegations regarding the Vice-President’s unexplained wealth; among them, 39 percent cannot say if these allegations are true or not.

Pulse Asia Research noted several changes in awareness levels and public opinion regarding the truthfulness of these allegations occurring between July 2026 and September 2026.

From July 2026 to September 2026, it said awareness eases in the country (-10 percentage points), Metro Manila (-13 percentage points), the rest of Luzon (-14 percentage points), Mindanao (-9 percentage points), and Class D (-11 percentage points).

During the same period, indecision levels go up in the Philippines (+7 percentage points), the rest of Luzon (+11 percentage points), Class ABC (+15 percentage points), and Class D (+7 percentage points). 

Meanwhile, the percentage of those who see these allegations as untrue declined as far as adults in general (-8 percentage points), those in the rest of Luzon (-14 percentage points), and those belonging to Class D (-9 percentage points) are concerned.

The survey also said 60 percent of Filipino adults expect some senator-judges to be fair and others to be not fair in judging the Vice-President’s impeachment case. 

It also said that 39 percent cannot say if the impeachment process has a positive or negative impact on Philippine democracy.