MANILA — Seven out of 10 Filipino adults believe senators should decide the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte based on legal merits and evidence instead of political considerations, according to an OCTA Research poll released on Friday.
The survey, conducted from July 4 to 11, 2026, with 1,200 respondents, showed that 71 percent favored decisions anchored on law and evidence, while 21 percent believed political factors should be taken into account. The remaining 7 percent were undecided.
Participants were asked which should carry greater weight when senators vote on the impeachment complaint against the Vice President: legal evidence or political considerations.
OCTA said the findings underscore the public’s expectation that democratic institutions should uphold fairness, due process, and objective decision-making.
According to the research organization, the survey was designed to measure public opinion on the standards senators should apply in the impeachment process—not whether Vice President Duterte should be found guilty or cleared of the charges.
“The findings suggest that Filipinos are expressing broader expectations about democratic governance. The results indicate that the public values institutional fairness, due process, and evidence-based decision-making, regardless of the eventual verdict,” OCTA said.
The polling firm also noted that trust in democratic institutions is strengthened when official decisions are perceived to follow constitutional principles and factual evidence rather than partisan or political interests.
Regionally, support for an evidence-driven vote was highest in the National Capital Region (77 percent) and Balance Luzon (76 percent), followed by the Visayas (63 percent) and Mindanao (62 percent).
On the other hand, respondents who said political considerations should influence senators’ votes were most concentrated in Western Visayas (43 percent), the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (36 percent), and Eastern Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula (35 percent).
OCTA said the survey has a ±3 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level, while regional estimates have a ±6 percent margin of error.
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