Vice President Sara Duterte (PPAB)

Solon-endorsers and complainants of the three impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte feel galvanized by the results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, which indicated that 41 percent of Filipinos support the impeachment proceedings.

"We welcome the result of the latest SWS survey, which revealed that 41 percent of Filipinos support the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte," Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña, endorser of the first impeachment complaint, said in a statement Thursday, Jan. 9.

"This significant figure reflects the growing public consensus for her removal from office, driven by mounting frustrations over her questionable leadership and actions. It is a clear indication that the Filipino people are awakening to the urgent need for accountability among our highest officials," he said.

Conducted between Dec. 12 and 18, 2024, the SWS survey showed that 41 percent of Filipinos support Duterte’s impeachment, while 35 percent oppose it, and 19 percent remain undecided.

"This survey not only validates the growing distrust towards the Vice President but also highlights the Filipino people’s resolve to hold the powerful accountable. The momentum for justice is undeniable, and the call for truth and integrity in governance continues to gain strength," Cendaña said.

"Palakas ng palakas ang suporta ng mamamayan sa impeachment ni VP Sara. Padami ng padami ang ebidensiya na nagtuturo sa kaniyang impeachable offenses. Kasabay nito, paliit nang paliit ang mundo ng mga Duterte—unti-unti na silang napapalibutan ng tawag ng hustisya at pananagutan. Ang araw ng pagharap nila sa batas ay nalalapit na," he added.

(Public support for VP Sara's impeachment is growing. The pieces of evidence that point to her impeachable offenses are mounting. With this, the world of the Dutertes' is shrinking--it is slowly being engulfed by calls of justice and accountability. The day of their reckoning before the law is coming.)

'Hindi pwedeng dedmahin ito'

Pointing to the survey numbers, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro urged the House leadership to immediately act on the impeachment complaints. 

"The House leadership cannot continue to sit on the impeachment complaints when four out of 10 Filipinos already support the move to hold Vice President Duterte accountable," said Castro, one of the endorsers of the second impeachment complaint, in a separate statement. 

"Sa tingin ko, mas dadami pa ang susuporta sa impeachment sa mga susunod na araw dahil nakikita ng taumbayan na kailangang may pananagutan ang mga opisyal ng gobyerno. Hindi pwedeng dedmahin ito," stressed the teacher-solon.

(I believe public support for the impeachment will continue to swell in the coming days because the people realize that government officials must be held accountable. This must not be ignored.)

Former ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said that the growing support for impeachment should compel Congress to act decisively.  

"The survey reflects a strong demand for accountability, especially with the unexplained spending of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education. This is the best opportunity for the House of Representatives to show that it stands for transparency and accountability," Tinio stated.  

Filipinos are angry, fed up

Lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, legal counsel of the complainants in the third impeachment complaint, said he wasn't shocked that more Filipinos were in favor of impeaching the Vice President than those opposed to it.

"There is palpable broad-based support to the initiatives to hold her accountable for the controversial manner she spent the multi-million confidential funds entrusted to her by the Filipino people, and her even more controversial stance not to explain to the public how she did it," he said in his own statement.

"That really struck a nerve among our people. That made our people angry. The nation is now tired of the brand of politics the Vice President represents. One that normalizes impunity and disregards with disdain public trust and accountability," noted Ligutan.

As for the 19 percent of the population that is still undecided on the issue, Ligutan views this as a positive.

"This encourages us, the impeachment proponents, to work even harder to make these undecided realize that there are two starkly opposite sides to choose from- one that promotes honesty, integrity, and accountability in the handling of public funds, and the other one that espouses their opposites- dishonesty, corruption, and impunity in the handling of public funds," he said.

The lawyer then called on Congress to heed the call of the public.

"We reiterate our call to the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Vice President has clearly betrayed public trust. Until when will Congress allow the Vice-President's unabashed betrayal of public trust go unchecked?

"More than ever, we believe that it is no longer just the constitutional obligation of the members of the House of Representatives to impeach, and for the Senate to remove from office, the Vice-President. That obligation now becomes a moral one," Ligutan said.