Poll: 49% of Filipinos lean toward acquitting VP Sara, Escudero top-rated judge (Pulso Intelligence)

Makati City - August 18, 2026 -

Nearly half of Filipinos lean toward acquitting Vice President Sara Duterte, according to Pulso Intelligence, a technology-driven pollster and research arm of Geronimo Law.

Asked how they view the case, 49% of respondents lean toward a not guilty verdict, 34% lean toward guilty, and 17% are neutral.

The same poll asked Filipinos to rate each of the 21 senator-judges on fairness, performance and trust. Presiding Officer Francis "Chiz" Escudero is the highest-rated at 2.92 on a scale of 1.00 to 3.00, followed by Christopher "Bong" Go (2.86), Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano (2.85), Bam Aquino (2.82) and Robinhood Padilla (2.81).

Deputy Majority Leader Joel Villanueva is the lowest-rated at 2.44, followed by Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri (2.48) and Senior Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito (2.51). Vicente Sotto III and Erwin Tulfo (both 2.56) complete the bottom five.

The three lowest-rated senator-judges are all members of the Senate majority leadership.

"This is not the view the prosecution would want going in," said Abraham Eleazar D. Quintos, co-founder and CEO of Pulso Intelligence. "At the same time, Filipinos are watching the senator-judges as individuals. This tracker gives the public and the press a weekly read on both, so movement is visible as the trial unfolds."

How the scorecard works

Each senator-judge is rated on three measures. Fairness asks whether the judge is seen to act impartially, free of political debt, party pressure or personal interest. Performance asks how the judge is seen to handle the proceedings, including questioning, command of the record and conduct in session. Trust asks whether the public would rely on the judge to render an honest verdict. The overall score is the composite of the three.

The scorecard measures public perception only. It is not a prediction of how any senator will vote and not a legal assessment of the case.

Methodology

Wave 1 data were collected on August 15 to 16, 2026 from a nationwide verified panel of 1,500 Filipinos of legal age, weighted to represent regional population and demographic differences. Pulso Intelligence has a verified respondent network of 1.6 million members. A verified digital panel and automated weighting allow it to field, weight and publish within days and repeat the read every week for the life of the trial.

The tracker will be published weekly. Full slides, data tables and interview requests are available on request.

About Pulso Intelligence

Pulso Intelligence is a technology-driven polling, public opinion and community pulse research firm, based in Makati and an affiliate of Geronimo Law. www.pulsointelligence.com