Public support for holding Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial before the Senate has grown, with nearly three in four Filipinos now backing the process, a fresh OCTA Research poll has found.
The Tugon ng Masa survey, conducted April 20 to 24 among 1,200 adult respondents through face-to-face interviews, recorded 74% in favor of a Senate impeachment trial for the Vice President — up five percentage points from the 69% logged in March. Twenty-one percent opposed the trial, while 4% were undecided.
OCTA was clear that the results should not be read as public opinion on Duterte’s guilt or prospects for removal. “The survey question measures public support for a Senate impeachment trial as a constitutional mechanism for addressing allegations and ensuring due process,” the research group said.
The regional breakdown revealed a sharp divide. Visayas posted the highest support at 82%, followed by Metro Manila at 81% and the rest of Luzon outside the capital at 77%. Mindanao stood apart, with only 58% in favor and 41% opposed — the highest opposition rate among all areas surveyed.
OCTA identified this gap as the “most analytically significant” regional finding. “The national figure of 74% conveys broad public backing, but it obscures a pronounced regional fault line,” the group noted, pointing to Mindanao’s long-standing political ties to the Duterte family.
Support held steady across income classes, with Class ABC at 74%, Class D at 75%, and Class E at 73%.
The non-commissioned poll carried a margin of error of ±3% at the 95% confidence level nationally, and ±6% for subnational estimates covering Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Duterte on May 11 on charges including culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, bribery, and other high crimes. The Senate has since constituted itself as an impeachment court, with trial proceedings set to begin on July 6.
While April’s 74% represents a month-on-month gain, it still falls short of the 80% support recorded in July 2025 and the 78% posted in April 2025 — though OCTA cautioned that those earlier surveys were conducted under different conditions and should be treated as reference points rather than part of a direct trend.
