MANILA, Philippines — While President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte still enjoy the trust and approval of more than half of Filipinos, public approval for the country’s two highest officials appears to be on the decline – at least based on the latest Pulse Asia Survey.
The survey, conducted from Sept. 6 to 13, showed that 50 percent of respondents approved of the performance of the President, down three points from the 53 percent in a similar survey in June.
Those who disapproved of his performance increased from 19 percent to 21 percent, while those undecided remained at 29 percent.
In terms of trust, the President also obtained a rating of 50 percent, down from 52 percent in June.
Those who distrust him increased from 21 percent to 22 percent, while those undecided increased from 27 percent to 28 percent.
The President’s approval and trust ratings were highest in balance Luzon at 61 percent and 64 percent, respectively.
It was lowest in Mindanao, Duterte’s bailiwick, at 26 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
Based on the same survey, Duterte still has the highest approval and trust ratings among top government officials, although the figures represented a significant drop.
The Vice President obtained a performance rating of 60 percent, down from 69 percent that she obtained in the June survey.
Those who disapproved of her performance increased from nine percent to 17 percent, while those undecided hardly moved from 22 percent to 23 percent.
Duterte’s trust ratings also suffered, dropping by 10 points from 71 percent to 61 percent.
Distrust with the Vice President also increased from eight percent to 17 percent, while the undecided slightly increased from 21 percent to 22 percent.
Approval of and trust for the Vice President remained highest in Mindanao at 93 percent and 90 percent, respectively.
It was lowest in Metro Manila, where it dropped by almost 30 points at 36 percent (from 64 percent) and 37 percent (from 66 percent), respectively.
Like Duterte, Senate President Francis Escudero also obtained an approval rating of 60 percent.
It was his first performance rating from Pulse Asia since he just assumed his post in May as Senate president.
In terms of trust, Escudero’s performance dropped by 13 points from 69 percent in June to 56 percent in September.
DowntrendSpeaker Martin Romualdez obtained a performance rating of 32 percent, down from 35 percent, and a trust rating of 31 percent, down from 35 percent.
The survey had 2,400 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus two percent.
Reacting to the Pulse Asia survey results, Escudero thanked the public and his colleagues for their support.
“We thank the people for recognizing the work being done here in the Senate. My commitment as Senate President is to ensure the Senate continues to work for the people – passing legislation to make the lives of our people easier, help us move faster and make our people’s burdens lighter,” Escudero said.
While none of the top national government officials got a majority approval and trust rating across geographic areas and socio-economic classes, Escudero “comes close to achieving this as he records majority approval and trust scores in each area (58 percent to 65 percent and 53 percent to 63 percent, respectively) as well as Classes D and E (59 percent to 61 percent and both at 57 percent, respectively),” according to Pulse Asia.
Escudero’s overall 56 percent trust ratings represented a decrease from 69 percent during the previous June survey.
“The drop in his national trust rating comes alongside an increase (+9 percentage points) in the level of ambivalence about his trustworthiness,” Pulse Asia added.
The increase in “ambivalence” or those undecided about Escudero’s trustworthiness is notable in the rest of Luzon (+13 percentage points), the Visayas (+10 percentage points), Class D (+8 percentage points) and Class E (+11 percentage points), according to the survey.
Esucdero also suffered a drop in his trust ratings in almost all areas (-11 to -18 percentage points) and every class (-12 to -17 percentage points), except in Mindanao, where he only got a seven percentage point dip, survey results showed.
Escudero vowed to continue steering the Senate to be more productive, noting that 137 bills have been passed by the upper chamber, 14 of which became laws.
“We wasted no time in acting on a significant number of the priority legislation of the Marcos administration. Several of these bills that are also part of the common legislative agenda of Congress are in the advanced stages of discussions,” Escudero said.
“We commit to work on the remaining bills – both national and local – in the remaining session days of the 19th Congressfatpanda casino,” he added. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab