An overwhelming share of Filipinos believe Vice President Sara Duterte should face her impeachment trial in person, a newly launched pollster found—even as the same survey shows most of the public is barely following the proceedings that would decide her fate.
In the debut National Momentum Survey by Momentum Research, 44.3% of respondents called the vice president’s personal appearance extremely important and another 39% deemed it important, a combined 83% pushing for her to show up. Just 10.6% saw no need for it. The strength of that sentiment stands out against an otherwise disengaged public, one that knows the trial is underway but has largely kept its distance.
Awareness itself is broad: 68% of Filipinos said they were aware the proceedings were happening. Sustained attention is another matter. Only 13%—about one in 10—actively monitored the trial. A 55% majority said developments merely reached them without any effort to keep up, 29% paid no attention at all, and 3% gave no answer.
Firm founder Cleve Arguelles tied the gap to the courtroom’s dense, technical character during the opening week, when legal terminology and layered arguments from prosecutors, defense counsel and senator-judges dominated. “What the survey data tells us is that the public may be aware that the trial is happening, but the proceedings haven’t yet broken through in a way that feels meaningful or legible to the average Filipino,” he said.
Respondents’ own read on the trial’s clarity underscored the point. Nearly a third, 32%, found it confusing and 8% too technical to follow, while 15% said it was understandable apart from certain complicated parts. Only 7% called it clear and easy to follow throughout, and a 34% plurality tuned out the first week completely.
The public was more divided on the venue’s credibility. Trust that the Senate impeachment court would act fairly and neutrally reached 36.6%, with a further 12.2% extremely trusting—narrowly outweighing the 35.5% who distrusted it and 6.8% who were extremely distrustful. On the court’s actual first-week conduct, 37.5% judged it fair against 31.2% who did not.
Arguelles cautioned against treating any of these figures as fixed. “But the trial is only weeks old. Public opinion at this stage is more of a snapshot than a verdict, and it’s still likely to move as the evidence does,” he said. Momentum Research drew its findings from 1,438 Filipinos interviewed nationwide from July 13 to 16, with a national margin of error of ±2.6% at the 95% confidence level.
