Socmed affecting public perception of VP impeachment

MANILA, Philippines — Public opinion of the ongoing impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is largely affected by information being shared on social media, a political scientist said.

In an interview with The STAR’s “Truth on the Line,” political scientist Cleve Arguelles, founder of public opinion research firm Momentum Research, described the ongoing proceedings as the country’s “first social media impeachment trial.”

“Most Filipinos would say that they watch it through clips online, spliced videos. Meaning, our people are seeing the senator-judges using the lens of partisan edits and biased spliced videos. That affects the public opinion as well,” he noted.

Arguelles said less than a majority of Filipinos closely follow Duterte’s impeachment trial, which could mean that the public may be making judgments without being fully informed of the progress of the trial.

“The distractions, the big voices online, that affect their opinion of the trial,” he pointed out.

The latest Momentum survey conducted from Oct. 16 to 19 found that almost four in 10 respondents support Duterte’s conviction.

Asked whether the impeachment court should acquit or convict Duterte on the charge of unexplained wealth, 38.8 percent said the senator-judges must vote to convict.

Some 33.8 percent were in favor of acquittal, while 22.6 percent said they do not know. The remaining 4.7 percent declined to respond.