A SLIGHT majority of Filipinos favor excluding senators who are unavailable to perform their duties from the vote calculation in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, a survey released on Thursday showed.
The survey by research technology firm Tangere showed that 54 percent of respondents agreed that senators who are unavailable because they are in hiding, detained or outside the country should be excluded from participating in and determining the required vote for Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Thirty percent disagreed, while 16 percent were undecided.
The survey also found that 53 percent favored adjusting the two-thirds voting threshold based on the 20 senators who are actively serving and available if four senators are unavailable or detained.
Thirty-one percent opposed the proposal, while 16 percent were undecided.
The findings come amid continuing questions over the composition of the Senate and the number of senators who may be able to participate in Duterte’s impeachment proceedings.
Tangere CEO Martin Peñaflor said the results showed support among non-Duterte political groups and neutral voters for allowing the impeachment process to proceed based on senators who are available to perform their duties.
“The public expects the Senate to render a decision based on the members who are present, available, and capable of sitting as trial judges,” Peñaflor said.
The survey’s political breakdown showed Duterte supporters accounting for 34 percent of respondents, followed by politically neutral respondents at 32 percent, Liberal Party/Leni Robredo supporters at 18 percent, and administration supporters at 16 percent.
Tangere said support for excluding unavailable senators was strongest among administration supporters, Liberal Party/Leni Robredo supporters and neutral respondents, while opposition was concentrated among Duterte supporters.
The noncommissioned survey was conducted from Sept. 8 to 9 through a mobile-based respondent application, with 1,200 participants.
Tangere reported a margin of error of plus or minus 2.96 percentage points at a 95-percent confidence level. It said respondents were distributed across the country, with 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.
