9 of 10 Pinoys to respect impeachment verdict

Nearly 9 of 10 Filipinos will respect the verdict of the Senate impeachment court on Chief Justice Renato Corona, according to a recent survey conducted by an independent research firm.

The poll, conducted by the Laylo Research Strategies from Jan. 28 to Feb. 6, showed that 86 percent of 1,500 respondents nationwide will respect whatever decision the impeachment court will hand down on Corona.

The remaining eight percent will join rallies if the Chief Justice is absolved, four percent will join rallies if he is impeached, and two percent are undecided, the noncommissioned survey showed.

The survey also revealed that 43 percent “rarely bother” with the ongoing trial, 33 percent “sometimes follow the news,” and 24 percent are “closely paying attention.”

The poll found that television is the main source of news about the ongoing impeachment trial ( 89 percent), followed by radio (22 percent) and other people’s discussion (nine percent).

Despite the public’s dependence on TV as source of news, the survey showed that only seven percent watch the live broadcast of the trial.

Meanwhile, nearly half or 47 percent were undecided when asked to assess the fairness of the senator-judges.

Three in 10 respondents or 34 percent think the senators are objective and 17 percent claim they are not.

Members of the House of Representatives voted to impeach Corona on Dec. 12, 2011 for alleged betrayal of public trust, violation of the Constitution, and graft and corruption.

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