MANILA, Philippines - A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, conducted days before the Senate impeachment court handed down its judgment against former chief justice Renato Corona, showed that a majority of Filipinos preferred a guilty verdict.
The poll, taken from May 24 to 27, found that 72 percent of respondents said they prefer a conviction, barely changed from the 73 percent recorded in March.
Twenty-two percent said they preferred a not guilty verdict (compared to 25 percent in March), while six percent did not have any answer (from three percent previously).
SWS said the guilty response has always been a majority in all areas and classes since the previous quarter.
Results of the SWS poll were printed in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.
Asked if they would accept any verdict, 61 percent of the respondents said they would, (down from 67 percent in March), 12 percent said they would not (from nine percent), while 26 percent were undecided (from 24 percent), for a net score of 49 from 58 in March.
The senator-judges voted 20-3 to convict Corona last May 29 for failure to fully disclose his wealth in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, as required by the Constitution.
Preference for a guilty verdict rose six points to 71 percent from 65 percent in the Visayas, but was barely changed in Mindanao (74 percent from 75 percent) and in balance Luzon (70 percent from 72 percent).
More than seven in 10 (75 percent) Filipinos in the National Capital Region preferred a guilty verdict, six points less than the 81 percent recorded in March.
A majority of those from urban (73 percent from 76 percent) and rural (71 percent from 70 percent) areas also wanted Corona’s conviction.
By socio-economic class, a majority in class ABC preferred a guilty verdict, down by 10 points from 84 percent in March. It hardly changed in class D, or the masa, to 73 percent from 72 percent, and in class E, to 69 percent from 70 percent.
SWS said acceptance of the outcome was the majority sentiment across all areas (ranging from 54 percent to 64 percent) and all classes (ranging from 53 percent to 64 percent).
The survey also revealed that 46 percent of Filipinos were satisfied with the conduct of the trial versus 29 percent who were not and 24 percent undecided, for a “moderate” net rating of 18, down from the “good” 31 in March.
SWS said net satisfaction with the trial’s conduct was “moderate” in most areas and demographic groups, except in class ABC, which yielded a “neutral” 4.
The net satisfaction was 20 in Mindanao, 18 in NCR and in balance Luzon and 14 in the Visayas; as well as 22 in rural and a lower 14 in urban areas.
By class, “moderate” net satisfaction ratings were recorded in class D (21) and class E (11).
The trial process got higher net satisfaction ratings among “those with more formal schooling”: a “good” 31 among college graduates, “moderate” 24 among high school graduates and 11 among elementary school graduates, as well as a “neutral” 2 among non-elementary graduates, the SWS said.
The SWS survey used face-to-face interviews of 1, 200 adults.
Moot and academic
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the administrative complaint filed by a losing litigant in 2010 against its former chief justice Corona, who was removed from office by the Senate last May 29 after an impeachment trial.
In a two-page resolution promulgated last June 13, the high court junked as moot and academic the impropriety charges filed by lawyer-businessman Fernando Campos, whose Inter-Petal Recreational Corp. lost in a case against Philweb Corp. and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) over the operation of online cockfight betting.
“Considering the judgment dated May 29, 2012 of the Senate sitting as an impeachment court, which found chief justice Renato Corona guilty of the charge under Article 2 of the Articles of Impeachment, with the penalty of removal from office and disqualification to hold any office under the Republic of the Philippines as provided in Section 3(7), Article XI of the Constitution, the complaint against the honorable chief justice dated Sept. 14, 2011 filed by Inter-Petal Recreational Corporation is hereby dismissed for having become moot and academic,” read the ruling. – With Edu Punay