Day: March 20, 2012

There will not be a repeat of EDSA DOS, the “civil society”-induced activity in 2001 that led to the ouster of elected president Joseph Estrada and the installation of Gloria Arroyo in Malacañang, whatever would be the decision of the senator-judges in the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

It is worthy to note that many of the people that helped Arroyo assume the presidency without election in 2001 are now with the Aquino administration, which is pursuing the impeachment of Corona, Arroyo’s midnight appointee as chief justice.

The expectation of public acceptance of the senator-judges’ verdict on Corona is once again affirmed in a survey, this time by Pulse Asia.

Conducted from Feb. 26 to March 9, 2012, the Pulse Asia Ulat ng Bayan survey covered 1,200 respondents nationwide. The period of the survey covered the wrapping up of the prosecution of their presentation of evidence after they decided to drop five of the eight items in the Articles of Impeachment. The Defense team started their presentation of witnesses March 12.

In the survey, Pulse Asia asked respondents their opinion on possible actions of the people on whatever decision the Senate would make in the Corona impeachment.

Majority (58 percent) said “their countrymen will accept and respect the Senate’s decision whether most of the people like it or not.”

Thirty-four said majority of the Filipinos will respect or accept only the decision that they like. It didn’t say, however, what they would do.

Eight percent said they “don’t know” what the people would do.

Pulse Asia’s findings jibe with the survey conducted by the group of Pedro “Junie” Laylo, Jr. conducted Jan. 28 through Feb. 6, 2012 which showed that an overwhelming majority of Filipinos (86 percent) will respect whatever decision the Senate, as an impeachment court, will make on Corona’s case.

Eight percent, the Laylo report said will join rallies if the Chief Justice is absolved, while four percent will join rallies if he is impeached. Two percent were undecided.

Several factors contribute to the expected easy acceptance by the public of whatever the impeachment court’s decision would be.

One, it’s not the president who is on the dock.

Two, life is difficult these days and the poor, who compose majority of the Filipino people, will not spend time and money to go out to question the senator-judges’ decision.

Three, the middle-class, who formed most of the EDSA Dos crowd, would rather do their protest on Facebook and Twitter.

Also, it’s easy for the public to accept the senators’ verdict because as the Pulse Asia’s survey showed, most Filipinos (69 percent) expect the senators to be fair and impartial. A lot less, 22 percent, say the, senator-judges will not be fair while nine percent are undecided.

Pulse Asia conducted a nationwide survey (1,200 respondents) on the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona from Feb.26 to March 9, 2012. Here are the highlights:

Forty-seven percent of Filipinos think Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona is guilty of the charges filed against him while five percent believe he is innocent. Forty-three percent are ambivalent as regards his innocence or guilt.

Almost half of the Filipino population (47%) is of the view that Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona is guilty, with 33% saying he is probably guilty and 15% being certain about his guilt. Meanwhile, 43% cannot say whether the government official is guilty or not. Practically the same percentages across geographic areas and socio-economic classes either think the Chief Justice is guilty (37% to 52%) or express indecision on the matter (43% to 48%). An exception is Mindanao where 54% say the Supreme Court Chief Justice is guilty and significantly fewer residents (31%) are undecided on the matter. On the other hand, only 5% of Filipinos believe Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona is innocent of the charges filed against him, with 4% saying he is probably innocent and 1% saying he is definitely innocent.

According to 58% of Filipinos, their countrymen will accept and respect the Senate’s decision as regards the impeachment case of the Supreme Court Chief Justice, whether most of the people like it or not. This is the majority sentiment in every socio-economic class (53% to 63%) and almost all geographic areas (53% to 68%). The Visayas is the exception, with essentially the same percentages either sharing this view (40%) or saying that most Filipinos will accept and respect only the decision that they favor (41%). The latter view is articulated by 34% of Filipinos. Indecision on the matter is expressed by less than one in ten Filipinos (8%). Additionally, public opinion on the matter is generally the same regardless of whether Filipinos believe Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona is innocent or guilty.

For the rest of the survey, click here: http://pulseasia.com.ph/pulseasia/story.asp?ID=747