Pulse Asia: 51 percent want Sara Duterte to testify before impeachment court

A slim majority of Filipinos want Vice President Sara Duterte to personally take the witness stand before the Senate impeachment court, a September 2026 survey by Pulse Asia Research showed.

Results of the poll, part of the research firm's Ulat ng Bayan survey, showed that 51 percent of adult Filipinos favored Duterte's personal appearance before the court.

In contrast, 34 percent opposed the idea, while 14 percent were undecided and 1 percent declined to give an answer.

The survey was conducted from Sept. 17 to 24 among 2,400 adults aged 18 and above through face-to-face interviews. It has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

Despite the majority supporting Duterte's appearance, most respondents said they had limited knowledge of the impeachment case.

More than half, or 53 percent, admitted knowing little about the proceedings, while 6 percent said they had almost no knowledge or none at all.

Meanwhile, 35 percent said they had sufficient but not extensive knowledge of the case, and only 5 percent reported having extensive knowledge.

Interest in the proceedings was relatively higher, with 55 percent saying they were interested in Duterte's impeachment trial. A quarter of respondents were undecided, while 20 percent said they were not interested.

The internet and television emerged as the primary channels through which Filipinos followed developments in the case, cited by 64 percent and 59 percent of respondents, respectively.

News reports on both platforms were each identified by 58 percent as sources of information. Radio was cited by 15 percent, while less than 1 percent said they relied on newspapers.

The poll also found that 9 percent of Filipino adults were not monitoring the impeachment proceedings.

Separately, 71 percent of respondents said they were aware of allegations concerning Duterte's unexplained wealth. Of those aware of the allegations, 39 percent said they could not determine whether the claims were true or false.