Philippine Politics 🇵🇭
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Breaking news, analyses, and context about the biggest political developments in the Philippines, from Rappler's political reporters and editors
LOOK: The National Youth SONA Action Day protestors have assembled at Gate 2.5 of Ateneo de Manila University, commencing a torch-and-candlelight Human Light Chain.
Several protestors held up light up letters that spell, 'WE WANT OUR FUTURE BACK,' while others carried candles and torches.
Police officers have been positioned in a line across the formation of the protestors.
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Momentum Research, which describes itself as a "next-generation public opinion research firm," launched today, July 23, the inaugural issue of its flagship survey, "The National Momentum Survey" for July 2026. The presentation of results is led by the firm's founder and CEO Cleve Arguelles — political scientist and Bantay Senado convenor and spokesperson — and statistician Ramoncito Cambel, Assistant Professor at the UP Los Baños Institute of Statistics.
They are joined by public administration specialists Dr. Gary Dionisio, Dean of the School of Diplomacy and Governance at De La Salle College of St. Benilde, and Dr. Ederson de los Trino Tápia, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College of Continuing, Advanced and Professional Studies at the University of Makati.
Here are some of their key findings.
In terms of partisanship, most Filipinos consider themselves independent, which means they do not support the administration or opposition. When it comes to factions, 45% consider themselves independent, 28.9% support the Dutertes, 12.4% support the opposition (Robredo group), and 11% support the Marcos group.
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For performance approval, their findings are similar to other polling firms: More Filipinos are satisfied with the performance of Vice President Sara Duterte compared to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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Momentum Research also surveyed the performance ratings of the individual senators. Robin Padilla tops the list with a 30.9% performance approval rating, while the Villars and JV Ejercito are at the bottom of the list.
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But when it comes to the percentage of those who disapprove of the senators' performances, jailed senators Bato dela Rosa and Jinggoy Estrada had the hightes disapproval ratings.
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The firm also found that a majority of their respondents have heard of Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial, but much fewer are actively following it.
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Of those that are following the trial, 32.2% find the trial confusing and hard to follow.
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Their survey also found that most of their respondents found the trial fair, but by a small margin.
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An overwhelming majority of their respondents said it is important for Vice President Duterte to attend her own trial. This is true across regions.
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Of the four articles of impeachment, 24.2% of respondents found the anomalous use of confidential and intelligence funds as the most convincing. The grave threats case is the most unconvincing, according to the survey.
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Most Filipinos found the vice president's threats against Marcos and others to be unacceptable.
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The survey found that 43.8% of their respondents said it is too early to decide whether to convict or acquit the vice president. 27.6% said she should be convicted, while 20% said she should be acquitted. The survey also provided a breakdown per faction.
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Here's some more information on how Momentum Research conducted its survey. They interviewed 1,500 Filipinos aged 18 and above, with a 95% confidence level and a ±2.6% margin of error.
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For the 2028 elections, Momentum Research's findings also reflect those of other surveys. Vice President Sara Duterte remains the top contender, even in head-to-head scenarios. Raffy Tulfo and Bong Go are still strong contenders for the vice presidential position.
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You can find the full survey results here: https://momentumresearch.ph/