Inflation, corruption hurt Marcos approval; ‘kill remarks’ hit Sara score - survey

Metro Manila, Philippines – Addressing inflation and corruption weighed down on the approval scores of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., while Vice President Sara Duterte’s “kill” remarks against the presidential family affected her ratings, a survey said.

In a non-commissioned poll released by Publicus Asia on Friday, Dec. 13, the president’s approval ratings went down by 10 points in the fourth quarter, or from 43% to 33%. The gap was even wider by 25 points year-on-year, which was at 58%.

Duterte’s score, meanwhile, fell to 37% from 40%, or 22 points lower year-on-year.

“All areas except NCR (National Capital Region) and majority of socio-demographic segments drop in approval for PBBM (President Bongbong Marcos) while arrest in downtrend for VP Sara in Mindanao offsets drops in NCR, NCL (North Central Luzon), Visayas,” the survey said.

“As the head of state, PBBM’s overall performance is strongly linked to whether top national issues are addressed or not, i.e., reducing if not eliminating corruption and curbing inflation, which directly affect household concerns,” it added.

Meanwhile, the pollster showed that aside from issuing threats to the presidential family, the confidential fund investigation hurt Duterte’s ratings. This refers to the audit observation memorandum released by the Commission on Audit, which saw deficiencies in the vice president’s P125-million secret fund use in 2022.

The survey also noted that Duterte’s remarks about exhuming the body of the president’s father, along with her comment about imagining cutting off Marcos' head—both made during an October briefing, contributed to her declining approval rating.

The House quad committee’s consecutive inquiry into the drug war of the vice president’s father was also a consideration for respondents, the poll showed.

The survey on Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 had 1,500 respondents, with a ±3% margin of error.