A majority of Filipinos believe Vice President Sara Duterte is concealing billions of pesos in undisclosed bank accounts, though skepticism runs deep among her core supporters, a newly released survey shows.
The poll, conducted by Tangere on April 29 to 30 among 1,200 respondents nationwide, found 58 percent of Filipinos finding the allegations credible — claims that have gained momentum amid recent disclosures by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and ongoing legislative scrutiny.
The survey was self-initiated by Tangere and not commissioned by any party.
Belief in the allegations was notably high among voters who backed the current administration, with 82 percent saying they found the claims plausible despite Duterte having been allied with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the 2022 elections. An equally high 81 percent of Liberal Party supporters and backers of former vice president Leni Robredo said they considered the accusations credible.
Independent voters also skewed toward belief, with roughly 67 percent expressing the view that the vice president holds undisclosed funds.
The divide sharpens considerably when looking at Duterte’s own political base. Among respondents who identified as her supporters — approximately 40 percent of the survey sample — only about one in three believed the allegations. The majority within this bloc characterized the controversy as a politically driven campaign rather than a legitimate financial inquiry.
“The high level of belief among neutral and administration supporters suggests that recent AMLC disclosures have gained traction beyond the usual political blocs,” the report stated.
Analysts cited in the findings described the pattern as evidence of an entrenched defender constituency that may frame the issue in the context of the 2028 elections.
Separately, the survey gauged public familiarity with the AMLC itself. Nine in ten Filipinos said they were aware of the agency and its mandate. Of those, 51 percent said they trusted the AMLC, while 30 percent said they did not. Satisfaction with the agency’s performance stood at 52 percent, against 28 percent who were dissatisfied.
The poll used a mobile-based application and applied stratified random sampling with regional quota distribution — 12 percent from the National Capital Region, 23 percent from Northern Luzon, 22 percent from Southern Luzon, 20 percent from the Visayas, and 23 percent from Mindanao. The margin of error was ±2.77 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.
