Roughly 49% of Filipino adults approved of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s arrest in connection with his plunder case involving P75 million in alleged undeclared campaign donations, according to the July 2026 issue of The National Momentum Survey.

Specifically, 9.5% of Filipino adults said they strongly agree with the first-time senator’s arrest, while another 39.9% simply agreed. In contrast, about 2 in 5 Filipino adults believe Marcoleta should not have been arrested, with 31.8% saying they disagree and 7.2% strongly disagreeing. There, however, remains 1 in 10 Filipino adults who were unsure where to stand on his arrest, while 1.7% refused to answer.

Regionally, Metro Manila recorded the highest level of approval, with a clear majority of 3 in 5 Filipinos (59.7%) saying they agree or strongly agree with Marcoleta’s arrest. This is closely followed by the Rest of Luzon at 58.1%.

The complete opposite can be observed in Mindanao. About 62% of Filipino adults in the region disagreed or strongly disagreed with Marcoleta’s arrest, while only 25.6% were in favor of his detention.

The survey likewise found a strong relationship between political factions and attitudes toward Marcoleta’s arrest.

Among Pro-Opposition respondents, 77.3% approved of the arrest, which includes 61.4% who agreed and 15.9% who strongly agreed. Approval was also high among Pro-Marcos respondents (69.5%).

Similar to the regional findings, the picture was quite reversed among Pro-Duterte respondents. Only around 28% approved of Marcoleta’s arrest, while 66.2% disapproved.

The contrast is notable given Marcoleta’s political association with the Duterte camp. Although he filed his 2025 Senate candidacy as an independent, he was included in the Duterte-backed PDP-Laban senatorial slate and was endorsed by the Dutertes during the 2025 elections.

Conducted from July 13 to 16, the National Momentum Survey was carried out through face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,438 Filipino adults. It has a national margin of error of ±2.6 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

Subnational margins of error are ±7% for the National Capital Region, ±4% for the Rest of Luzon (North, South, and Central Luzon), ±6% for Visayas, and ±5% for Mindanao — all at a 95% confidence level.