Church, media most trusted, says survey
The Church and the media are the “most trusted” institutions in the country, according to respondents of the first Philippine Trust Index (PTI).
The PTI, launched by EON Inc. on Thursday, is a quantitative study that measures the level of public trust on five key institutions in the country—the Church, government, businesses, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and the media.
Majority of the respondents had a “good level of trust” in the five key institutions, except in government, which only earned 7 percent. The survey showed that about one in two respondents (51 percent) had “very much trust” in the Church.
Media was the next most trusted institution, with 22 percent of the respondents expressing “very much trust.”
“Trailing far behind were NGOs (12 percent), business (10 percent), and government (7 percent), whose trust levels were not markedly different from each other’s,” the survey said.
“For the surveyed stakeholder groups, the Philippine Trust Index could be a useful guide in finding ways to establish and build trust,” said Junie del Mundo, EON chief executive officer.
Face-to-face
Respondents comprised of “adult Filipinos between 25 to 65 years old, who have completed at least three years of tertiary education, and who access print, online and broadcast media at least twice a week, on average.”
The survey, conducted from May to June 2011, used face-to-face interviews with 500 respondents in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.47 percent.
Among media outlets, television networks were the most trusted (74 percent), followed by online news sites (68 percent). Newspapers and radio stations followed with 66 percent each.
Among businesses, telecommunication companies were the most trusted (78 percent) while mining companies were the least trusted (22 percent).
Among government agencies, the Office of the President scored trust ratings of 54 percent. Local government units had 44 percent while the Supreme Court had 41 percent.
Congress least trusted
“Trust for the Senate and the Regional Trial Courts clustered at 37 percent, slightly higher than the Cabinet, which garnered trust rating of 35 percent. At the bottom of the list was Congress, which mustered a trust rating of 32 percent,” the study said.
Among NGOs, those advocating Health and Nutrition (65 percent), youth and children (63 percent), and environment issues (59 percent) scored the highest trust ratings, while NGOs advocating labor issues (44 percent) and peace and conflict resolution (40 percent) scored the lowest trust levels.
Dr. Steven Rood of The Asian Foundation said people tended to trust NGOs that delivered results more. “We need to be seen doing something,” he said.
Respondents said they trusted the media due to two qualities: truth and honesty (58 percent) and fairness in reporting (35 percent).
Vote of confidence
Media’s high trust rating should be seen both as “a vote of confidence” and “a huge challenge to journalists,” according to Marites Vitug, Newsbreak founding editor.
The study also found that for the Church to keep its trust levels, 39 percent of the respondents said it “had to maintain its separation from the state”—defined as “not meddling with the affairs of the state (14 percent), “leaving politics to politicians” (13 percent), and
leaving the RH Bill alone” (10 percent).
Msgr. Juanito Figura, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, noted that it was “interesting” that the study took notice of the church as an institution.
“We are also reminded that we have our parameters. We know that when we enter political affairs, we know that we won’t be politicians,” he said.
