VP Sara Duterte composite image from Inquirer, AP file photos
MANILA, Philippines — A total of 84.8 percent of students nationwide believe that Vice President Sara Duterte should be removed from her position, according to a recent survey conducted by the Center for Student Initiatives (CSI), a student-directed research institution.
Based on the survey results released by CSI on Monday, 84.8 percent or most of the respondents want Duterte to be removed from office, 12.2 percent answered otherwise, while 3.1 percent said they were undecided.
Forty percent of the respondents were in the National Capital Region (NCR), 35 percent were in Balanced Luzon or other Luzon areas outside Metro Manila, 15 percent were from Visayas, and 10 percent were from Mindanao.
Results of the survey also showed that 73 percent of the respondents believed that the Senate should be convened now as an impeachment court instead of conducting the trial after this year’s elections.
Meanwhile, 19.8 percent answered “no,” while 6.4 percent were undecided.
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According to the CSI, it conducted the survey from February 28 to March 16 this year using non-probability sampling.
The survey was conducted online from February 28 to March 16 among 2,000 students nationwide — 800 in NCR, 700 in Balanced Luzon, 300 in Visayas, and 200 in Mindanao.
INQUIRER.net sought the side of Duterte’s camp for a comment regarding the survey, but it has yet to reply as of posting time.
On February 5, the House of Representatives confirmed that 215 lawmakers signed the fourth impeachment complaint against Duterte.
However, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero said that holding an impeachment trial “legally cannot be done,” as the complaint was not referred to the plenary to establish a basis for convening the Senate as an impeachment court.
Escudero explained that for an impeachment court to be convened, there has to be an ongoing session in the chamber. He noted that this would allow impeachment judges to take oaths.
On February 27, Escudero released the proposed calendar of the impeachment trial, eyeing to start the actual judicial proceeding on July 30.