MANILA, Philippines — Less than two out of 10 Filipinos believe that most Senators will decide on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte primarily on the basis of evidence and the law than political considerations, according to a survey conducted by OCTA Research.
In its non-commissioned Tugon ng Masa survey on the impeachment, 19 percent said that senators would decide on Duterte's impeachment on the basis of evidence, 32 percent said that they would not and 49 percent were undecided.
OCTA said that the findings suggested that many Filipinos remained uncertain whether most senators would base their decisions primarily on the evidence, the law and the merits of the case.
Regional differences were evident as well, with 25 percent of National Capital Region (NCR) respondents believe that most senators would decide on evidence, the highest among all major regions.
Mindanao respondents, however, were the highest among those who did not believe that senators would decide on evidence at 57 percent,
OCTA said that the survey was conducted prior to the commencement of Duterte's impeachment trial in the Senate, thus, the results reflected public perceptions, expectations, and anticipations regarding the Senate's prospective handling of the impeachment case against Duterte rather than evaluations of its actual conduct during the proceedings.
The survey had 1,200 respondents and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.
