SWS: 42% of Filipinos follow Sara Duterte's impeachment trial closely

Less than half of Filipinos follow the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte either closely or somewhat closely, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Broken down further, 15% followed the trial very closely, 28% followed it somewhat closely, 21% followed it just a little, and 27% did not follow it at all.

The SWS said there were 9% of respondents who only heard about the impeachment trial during the interview.

The survey was taken from September 21 to 27, before the House prosecution panel dropped three out of the four impeachment articles. At the time, the House prosecution was presenting evidence on Article II or the unexplained wealth. This is the only article that the panel did not drop.

According to the SWS, fewer people followed Duterte’s impeachment when compared to former president Joseph Estrada and the late Chief Justice Renato Corona.

For Estrada’s impeachment, 47% followed it very or somewhat closely. For Corona, 52% to 54% followed his impeachment, according to two separate SWS polls.

The SWS made use of face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults, with 600 of them in Balance Luzon, and 300 each in Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao. The sampling error for national percentages is ±3%.

Around 38% of respondents discussed the trial with their families, with 4% always discussing it, 9% often, and 25% sometimes. Then there were 37% who rarely discussed it and 26% who never did.

Half of the respondents said the trial gave the right consideration to both sides. The SWS said 18% of Filipinos found that the trial was too liberal with Duterte’s defense team, and 17% said that it was too liberal with prosecutors. There was 15% who did not give an opinion.

In terms of the trial’s pacing, the SWS said that 39% of respondents said the trial was too slow, 31% said it was just the right pace, and 22% said they were in too much of a hurry.

Asked about whether or not they trusted the Senate to make a fair decision in Duterte’s case, 28% said they had much trust, 32% were undecided, and 35% had little trust, resulting in a net trust score of -7.

Net trust scores for both Estrada and Corona’s trial were higher, but used different scales than the one used in Duterte’s survey. — BAP, GMA News