Vice President Sara Duterte retained majority approval and trust ratings in September, while pluralities of Filipino adults continued to disapprove of and distrust President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., according to the latest Pulse Asia survey.
Pulse Asia’s September Ulat ng Bayan survey showed 54 percent approved of Duterte’s performance, compared with 27 percent who disapproved and 18 percent who were undecided.
Marcos received a 30-percent approval rating, while 49 percent disapproved of his performance and 21 percent were undecided.
Trust ratings followed a similar pattern.
Duterte was trusted by 55 percent of respondents, while 27 percent expressed distrust and 19 percent were undecided.
For Marcos, 29 percent expressed trust, against 48 percent who said they had little or no trust in the President. Another 22 percent were undecided.
Pulse Asia’s own release described disapproval as the plurality sentiment toward Marcos’ performance and said a majority continued to approve of Duterte’s work.
Ratings steady from July
Despite a politically turbulent quarter, the national ratings of both officials were statistically stable compared with Pulse Asia’s July survey.
Marcos’ approval edged up one percentage point from 29 percent to 30 percent, while his disapproval slipped from 50 percent to 49 percent.
His trust rating increased from 28 percent to 29 percent, while distrust declined three points from 51 percent to 48 percent.
Duterte’s approval moved from 56 percent to 54 percent, while her trust rating went from 58 percent to 55 percent. Pulse Asia said the national movements were not significant.
The survey was conducted amid Duterte’s continuing impeachment trial, her posting bail in grave-threat cases, the arrest and detention of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez on a plunder charge, and several investigations related to alleged flood-control anomalies.
Wide regional gaps
The survey showed particularly sharp differences in Mindanao.
Only 10 percent of Mindanao respondents approved of Marcos’ performance, while 71 percent disapproved.
Duterte, meanwhile, received a 91-percent approval rating in Mindanao, with just 3 percent expressing disapproval.
The gap was even wider on trust: Marcos received 8 percent trust and 66 percent distrust in Mindanao, while Duterte posted 94 percent trust and 1 percent distrust.
Marcos also registered majority disapproval in the Visayas at 57 percent and among Class E respondents at 66 percent.
Duterte received majority approval in the Visayas at 58 percent and among Classes D and E at 53 percent and 68 percent, respectively. In Metro Manila, her approval and disapproval ratings were tied at 42 percent.
Pulse Asia conducted face-to-face interviews with 2,400 adults nationwide from 17 to 24 September. The survey has a ±2 percentage-point margin of error at the 95-percent confidence level for national estimates and ±4 points for Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.
###
Stay informed
Get Daily Tribune in your inbox
Breaking news, opinion, and business coverage for readers in the Philippines and abroad.
Subscribe to the newsletterPrefer chat alerts? Join the Daily Tribune Viber community.