THE +31 QUESTION

The latest Social Weather Stations survey gives Vice President Sara Duterte a +31 net satisfaction rating. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they were satisfied with her performance. Twenty-six percent were dissatisfied. The survey was conducted from June 20 to 29, 2026.

The number is higher than her +29 rating in March. The jump is only two points. SWS uses a plus-or-minus 3 percentage-point sampling error for national percentages in surveys of this size.

A two-point change does not settle whether public opinion truly moved. It may reflect a small improvement. It may also fall within the survey’s margin of error.

The headlines reported the +31. The fuller picture is in the regional numbers and in the separate polling on her impeachment.

THE COUNTRY IS NOT ONE NUMBER

Mindanao gave Duterte a net satisfaction rating of +84. That is excellent under the SWS scale. The Visayas gave her +36. Balance Luzon gave her +10. Metro Manila gave her +3.

Those four figures tell a different story from the national average.

Duterte still has a fortress in Mindanao. Her support is far weaker in Metro Manila. Balance Luzon is only mildly positive. The Visayas remains friendly, though nowhere near Mindanao’s level.

The two-point national increase came from higher ratings in Balance Luzon and Mindanao. Metro Manila went down. The Visayas did not move.

A national average can hide this kind of split. Parang grade sa classroom. The class average may look decent, while some students are flying and others are barely passing. The average is real. It just does not tell the whole story.

THE GAP WITH MARCOS

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had a -7 net satisfaction rating in the same June 20 to 29 SWS survey period.

Thirty-eight percent were satisfied with his performance. Forty-five percent were dissatisfied.

That puts Duterte 38 points ahead of Marcos in net satisfaction.

Her number does not prove support for every decision she has made. It does show that she remains far more popular than the President.

That is hard to ignore while the Senate impeachment process continues.

The political picture also looks strange.

The Vice President is under pressure from an impeachment case. The President remains in negative territory.

That gap gives Duterte’s camp room to argue that the administration has its own credibility problem.

THE IMPEACHMENT POLL

The SWS satisfaction figure needs to be read beside a separate OCTA Research survey.

OCTA found that 74% of Filipinos supported a Senate impeachment trial for Duterte.

The survey was conducted from April 20 to 24, 2026.

Twenty-one percent opposed the trial. Four percent were undecided.

Support for a trial was highest in Metro Manila at 81%.

The Visayas recorded 78%. Balance Luzon had 77%. Mindanao had the lowest support at 58%.

Even there, a majority still wanted the trial to continue.

That is the part many people reduce into a simple fight between pro-Sara and anti-Sara camps. The polls show a more uncomfortable reality.

A person can be satisfied with Duterte’s performance and still want her to face a trial. Support for due process does not automatically mean support for conviction.

The public can hold both views at once. Filipinos have seen enough political cases to know that public trust and legal accountability do not always move together.

WHAT +31 DOES AND DOES NOT SAY

SWS asks respondents whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied with an official’s performance. It does not ask whether Duterte is innocent. It does not ask whether she should be convicted. It does not ask whether respondents trust every statement from her camp.

That distinction has to stay clear.

The +31 rating shows she retains public support, especially in Mindanao. It does not erase the allegations raised in the impeachment process.

The OCTA result shows broad public backing for letting that constitutional process continue.

Both polls can be true. Neither poll can replace evidence presented in the Senate.

The harder question is whether the impeachment trial can convince Filipinos that the process is fair.

Duterte’s numbers remain strong enough to keep the political fight alive. Marcos’ weak numbers make the imbalance even harder to miss.

The country is watching two institutions at the same time. One is judging a Vice President. The other is being judged by the public every day.