The Manila Times
MOUNTING public anxiety over a dual crisis in governance while responding to prevalent corruption and cost-of-living pressures has led to sharp declines in the approval and trust ratings of both President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, Publicus Asia’s Pahayag first quarter survey showed. Marcos’ approval ratings plummeted to 19 percent from 22 percent, and that of Duterte’s to 28 percent from 34 percent for the fourth quarter of 2025. Marcos’ trust rating slipped to 13 percent (from 15 percent), and Duterte’s to 26 percent (from 31 percent). The decline in Marcos’ ratings was attributed to three key factors: the perceived failure to hold a “big fish” accountable in the flood control controversy (23 percent), backlash over the transfer of former president Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague despite the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute (16 percent), and dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of rising fuel prices (16 percent). The decline is most pronounced among respondents in the National Capital Region (NCR) (19 percent, from 30 percent), as well as middle-income households (18 percent, from 23 percent), private sector workers (17 percent, from 24 percent), and college-educated individuals (19 percent, from 23 percent), indicating sharper sentiment shifts among urban and economically active segments, Publicus Asia said. Duterte’s lower numbers was concentrated in the NCR (17 percent from 27 percent) and Visayas (34 percent from 43 percent) as well as among high-income groups (20 percent from 30 percent), private (25 percent from 32 percent) and government workers (34 percent, from 49 percent), and college-educated respondents, pointing to broad-based erosion across both geographic and socioeconomic segments. The downturn was largely driven by the filing of four impeachment complaints against her (33 percent), developments in the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmation of charges involving her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte (15 percent), and her own statements expressing regret over supporting Marcos in 2022 (15 percent). Despite the drop, Duterte remains the highest-rated among the government’s top officials and commands a highly consolidated and differentiated profile, overwhelmingly associated with bravery (42 percent), far surpassing any other attribute across officials, concern for Filipinos (26 percent), and love for the country (26 percent). Her image remains anchored in strength, decisiveness, and emotional resonance. Marcos earned points for his concern for Filipinos (17 percent), followed by love for country (15 percent), and eloquence (15 percent) alongside traits such as humility, responsibility, and adherence to the law (14 percent each). However, the absence of a dominant attribute indicates a less clearly defined leadership image for Marcos. Publicus Asia’s first quarter, noncommissioned survey, conducted from March 21 to 24, sampled 1,509 registered voters. Respondents were randomly selected from the market research panel of PureSpectrum, a US-based panel marketplace with global operations and a regional office in Singapore. The margin of error is +/- 3%.
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