Marcos trust, approval scores plunge, Duterte improves in March

Metro Manila, Philippines - President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s trust and approval scores in March plunged by double digit in contrast to Vice President Sara Duterte’s numbers which improved with majority approval rating, a survey by Pulse Asia showed on Wednesday, April 16.

In an Ulat ng Bayan survey conducted on March 23-29, Marcos suffered a 17-point drop in approval rating from 42 percent in February to only 25 percent in March.

His disapproval rating was at 53 percent while 22 percent were undecided about his performance.

Meanwhile, Duterte’s approval scores climbed by seven points from 52 to 59 percent, with 16 percent disapproving and 25 percent undecided.

“Among the four highest-ranking national government officials, only Vice-President Sara Duterte receives a majority approval rating,” the poll body said.

“In contrast, President Bongbong Marcos and Senate President Chiz Escudero experience notable drops in their respective public approval ratings, along with increases in their disapproval scores,” Pulse Asia said.

In trust ratings, the survey showed that a majority, or 54 percent, expressed distrust toward Marcos, while 61 percent expressed trust in Duterte.

Marcos’ trust score declined significantly from 42 percent to 25 percent while Duterte’s climbed by eight points from the 53 percent rating in February.

“Duterte is the only top official with an improvement in trust ratings,” Pulse Asia added.

A majority, or 57 percent, also showed distrust towards House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

The survey was conducted a month after Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives and a few weeks after the government surrendered former President Rodrigo Duterte to the Interpol on International Criminal Court charges.

The independent survey polled 2,400 respondents who were selected through multi-stage probability sampling.