Marcos Struggles to Win Public Trust as Sara Duterte Maintains Her Lead in Latest Survey
SARA DUTERTE – Who has the stronger backing of Filipinos? The latest Pulse Asia poll offers a revealing look at how the public views the performance of Sara Duterte and Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Vice President Sara Duterte continued to enjoy higher trust and approval ratings than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., despite a slight decline in public support, according to the latest quarterly survey conducted by Pulse Asia.
The survey, released on Thursday, showed that both officials faced challenges in maintaining public confidence in September. While Marcos recorded minimal improvements in his ratings, Duterte experienced a modest decrease. Nevertheless, the Vice President maintained a considerable lead over the President in both categories.
Conducted from September 17 to 24, the survey found that Marcos’ trust rating increased slightly from 28 percent in July to 29 percent in September. His approval rating also rose from 29 percent to 30 percent.
Despite these marginal gains, 48 percent of respondents expressed little or no trust in the President, while 29 percent reported having significant trust in him. Another 22 percent remained undecided.
Marcos received his highest trust rating in Luzon outside Metro Manila at 43 percent, followed by Metro Manila at 29 percent, the Visayas at 23 percent, and Mindanao at 8 percent.
Distrust in the President was most pronounced in Mindanao, where 66 percent of respondents expressed little or no confidence in him. This was followed by the Visayas at 60 percent, Metro Manila at 45 percent, and the rest of Luzon at 35 percent.
Meanwhile, 49 percent of Filipinos disapproved of Marcos’ performance, a slight improvement from 50 percent in July. His disapproval rating was highest in Mindanao at 71 percent, followed by the Visayas at 57 percent, Metro Manila at 45 percent, and the rest of Luzon at 36 percent.
Duterte Retains Lead Despite Declining Ratings
Duterte continued to receive stronger public support, although her trust rating dropped three percentage points from 58 percent in July to 55 percent in September. Her approval rating also slipped from 56 percent to 54 percent.
The survey showed that 27 percent of respondents expressed little or no trust in the Vice President, while 19 percent were undecided.
Duterte maintained overwhelming support in Mindanao, where her trust rating reached 94 percent. Her ratings stood at 57 percent in the Visayas, 43 percent in Metro Manila, and 37 percent in the rest of Luzon.
Her disapproval rating fell from 29 percent to 27 percent, while undecided respondents increased from 15 percent to 18 percent. Disapproval was highest in Metro Manila at 42 percent.
The results came amid Duterte’s Senate impeachment proceedings, which involve allegations of unexplained wealth and misdeclaration of her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth.
Pulse Asia conducted face-to-face interviews with 2,400 representative adults nationwide. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points nationwide and four percentage points across the country’s major regions, at a 95 percent confidence level.
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