Vice President Sara Duterte has defied expectations, scoring higher than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in performance rating despite the ongoing impeachment trial against her, according to an August 2026 survey.
Duterte received 61.3% rating in the survey conducted by Momentum Research on August 18 to 23 with 1,487 respondents nationwide. This is up by 3.3% from the “first wave” of the “National Momentum Survey” done in July.
Marcos, on the other hand, scored slightly lower at 36.4% compared to 35.9% in July, while those dissatisfied with the President’s performance increased by 2.8% to 57.4% month-on-month in August. The rest of the respondents said they do not know the President or simply did not provide an answer.
According to Momentum, which considers itself a “next generation nonpartisan public opinion research firm,” those who disapprove of Duterte ‘s performance stood at 27.7%, a decline of 4.6% from the previous survey. The remaining 6.9% either gave no response or said they did not know the Vice President.
In a press conference on August 28, political analyst Dennis Coronacion explained Duterte’s consistent high rating, “Prior to the trial, many analysts assumed that exposés and presented evidence would dent her public image and survey numbers, but that hasn’t happened.”
“It is a combination of factors. Beyond name recall and her father’s political base, her numbers reflect public dissatisfaction with the current administration’s handling of core issues like corruption, inflation, and unemployment. Since the formal breakup of the UniTeam coalition, VP Duterte has effectively positioned herself as the primary opposition leader. In a presidential system, the public primarily holds the President accountable for national crises, while her regional stronghold in Mindanao provides an unwavering baseline of national support.”
Momentum founder and chief executive officer Cleve Arguelles attributed Marcos’ lower rating to several factors, saying “Public approval experienced a distinct turning point following the SONA exposés on the flood control scandal. When the administration’s response was perceived as inadequate, it created a division between citizens frustrated by infrastructure and economic issues versus those who support his assertive foreign policy in the West Philippine Sea.”
Lack of awareness
Perhaps working in favor of Duterte is the lack of awareness of the impeachment hearings of some of the respondents. The survey results show that although 70.3%, or seven out of ten Filipinos, are aware of Duterte’s impeachment trial — an increase of 2.2% from July — some 29.7% said they were not, a decrease of 2.1%.
On their understanding of the trial, 32.4% of Filipinos remain confused about the trial, while 31.7% said they were unable to follow the proceedings, and 16.3% claimed the proceeding was clear but some parts are difficult to follow.
The survey indicated that the most widely-known issue to Filipinos is the alleged misuse of Duterte’s confidential funds. Based on the results, 47.9% of Filipinos believe it is too early to tell if she should be acquitted or convicted. However, 24.4% think Duterte should be convicted while 16.0% think the Vice President should be acquitted. The remaining 8.4% are unsure, and 3.3% declined to answer.
Majority or 79.0% of Filipinos believe that Duterte should personally attend her trial, while 15.3% believe it is unnecessary.
Most trusted and distrusted senator-judges
Two members of the minority and one from the majority topped the list of senator-judges that Filipinos trust the most to be fair and impartial in the trial.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano ranked first with 28.4%, up slightly by 0.3%, followed by Sen. Robinhood Padilla with 23.8%. In third place is Sen. Raffy Tulfo with 20.7%.
Interestingly, Padilla is also highest on the list of those most distrusted with 16.5%, followed by Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa at 15.8%, and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada at 14.3%.
Cayetano is not among the top three, but still received 12.3%.
Coronacion said this shows that Cayetano and Padilla are the “polarizing figures” in the Upper Chamber.
“Sometimes, they are seen as antagonizing, and sometimes they are seen as balancing. Of course, we have to look at the context. There’s this growing public perception that the impeachment trial is somewhat not fair based on certain results. Then to balance that, you have the likes of Sen. Padilla and Sen. Alan Cayetano, who the public thought are brave enough to go against the majority, or the will of the majority of the senator-judges,” he explained.
Arguelles said, “We no longer share a single national reality. Depending on media consumption habits, some view certain senator-judges as comedic or antagonistic, while others praise or view them as defenders standing against the prosecution.”
Partisanship
Results of the general partisanship portion of the poll show that majority, or 67.0% of Filipinos are independent or support neither the administration or opposition, while 17.5% back the administration and only 10.4% support the opposition.
The factional partisanship results show that 28.9% of Filipinos are supporters of the Dutertes and their allies, while supporters of Marcos and his allies stand at 11.6% and 9.6% are behind the opposition, including former vice president Leni Robredo, Sen. Bam Aquino, Sen. Risa Hontiveros and their alliances. The rest of the respondents are either unsure or did not answer.
Editor’s note: Jade Ruby Flores is a Polytechnic University of the Philippines student writing for VERA Files as part of her internship.