Luistro welcomes poll showing 74% of Filipinos back Duterte impeachment

Vice President Sara Duterte (left) and House justice panel chairperson and Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro — File photos

House lead prosecutor and justice committee Chair Gerville Luistro on Monday welcomed the latest Octa Research survey showing strong public support for proceeding with the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Luistro said the findings validate what the House prosecution panel believes is the public demand for accountability.

Octa’s latest Tugon ng Masa survey found that 74 percent of adult Filipinos support allowing the Senate to proceed with the impeachment trial regardless of its eventual outcome.

Only 21 percent opposed the trial, while 4 percent were undecided.

“We welcome that survey. It only validates what we believe is the demand of the Filipino people now,” Luistro said.

The House impeached Duterte and transmitted the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, which has since convened as an impeachment court.

Luistro said the survey results reflect the public’s desire for the constitutional process to move forward and for the allegations against Duterte to be addressed through the proper forum.

“And we can see that in what is happening around—that the people really want this impeachment trial to push through,” she added. “And this is what accountability mechanism is all about.”

The Octa survey showed support for the trial across all major geographic areas, with the highest levels recorded in the Visayas at 82 percent, followed by the National Capital Region at 81 percent and Balance Luzon at 77 percent.

Support was lowest in Mindanao at 58 percent, though a majority there still favored proceeding with the trial.

Luistro said the findings reinforce the prosecution panel’s position that Filipinos want the impeachment process to proceed in accordance with the Constitution.

“So we are happy, and we welcome that 74 percent survey in favor of holding the impeachment trial,” she said.

Duterte is accused of misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, bribery, and issuing threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

The prosecution panel has maintained that impeachment is a constitutional mechanism for ensuring transparency and accountability in government and that the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, should proceed with the trial as mandated by the 1987 Constitution.

House prosecutors have expressed readiness to move forward with the next phase of the proceedings and are awaiting official notice from the Senate impeachment court on pre-trial matters and the start of the trial.