MANILA, Philippines — The net trust ratings of both President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte decreased in December 2024, a commissioned survey done by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
In a statement posted on its website on Monday, SWS confirmed that it conducted a survey on the two highest officials’ trust ratings with questions sponsored by Stratbase Consultancy, a research think-tank that provides insights regarding the government’s policy-making processes.
In the nationwide survey, Marcos got a net trust rating score of +29, while Duterte got a score of +23. Marcos’ scores were down four points, from his +33 in September 2024. On the other hand, Dutert lost six points, from +29 in September 2024.
According to SWS, it conducted the survey from December 12 to 18 among 2,160 Filipino adults who were asked to describe their trust of the two officials — if it was much, somewhat much, somewhat little, or very little.
At least 54 percent of respondents said they had much trust in Marcos, while 19 percent were undecided, and 25 percent had little trust. For Duterte, 52 percent said they had much trust in the vice president, 17 percent were undecided, and 29 percent had little trust.
“Overall, among the 98% aware of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., 54% said they have much trust (% very much trust plus % somewhat much trust), 19% were undecided, and 25% said they have little trust (% very much trust plus % somewhat much trust) in him. This gives a net trust rating of moderate +29 (% much trust minus % little trust), down by 4 points from good +33 in September 2024,” the SWS said.
“Among the 98% aware of Sara Duterte, 52% said they have much trust (% very much trust plus % somewhat much trust), 17% were undecided, and 29% said they have little trust (% very much trust plus % somewhat much trust) in her. This gives a net trust rating of moderate +23, down by 6 points from moderate +29 in September 2024,” it added.
A higher percentage of residents from Luzon and Visayas trusted Marcos — 52 percent in Metro Manila, 66 percent in Balance Luzon, and 54 percent in Visayas — compared to respondents in Mindanao, which was at only 33 percent.
Similarly, higher numbers pointing to little trust towards Marcos were in Mindanao, at 42 percent of respondents, compared to just 31 percent in Metro Manila, 16 percent in Luzon, and 24 percent in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, Duterte enjoyed huge trust from respondents in her bailiwick of Mindanao: 83 percent of surveyed residents in the area said they trusted the Vice President, compared to just 41 percent in Metro Manila, 38 percent in Balance Luzon, and 57 in the Visayas.
Distrust towards Duterte was also lowest in Mindanao, at only 10 percent, followed by Visayas (26 percent), Balance Luzon (37 percent), and Metro Manila (40 percent).
This is not the first survey to indicate that Marcos and Duterte — part of the Uniteam campaign tandem that broke up in 2024 — have experienced decreases in their trust ratings.
Last December 21, a Pulse Asia survey revealed that Marcos’ approval rating dropped from 50 percent to 48 percent in September, while his trust rating also fell from 50 percent to 47 percent in the same month.
Meanwhile, Duterte’s ratings also showed a downward trend with her approval rating dropping from 60 percent in September to 50 percent in December — a 10-point decrease. Also, the vice president’s trust rating went down from 61 percent in September to just 49 percent in December.
READ: Marcos, VP Duterte’s approval, trust ratings decline further – survey
The SWS said face-to-face interviews were done to obtain the survey results, with the 2,160 respondents subdivided into the following: 1,080 in Balance Luzon, and 360 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The polling firm said it maintained sampling error margins of ±2% for national percentages, ±3% in Balance Luzon, and ±5% each for Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.
“Face-to-face is the standard interviewing method for Social Weather Stations; the only exceptions were early in the pandemic when movement restrictions made face-to-face impossible and mobile phone interviews were conducted. Normal face-to-face field operations resumed in November 2020,” the SWS said.
“The area estimates were weighted by the Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2024 to obtain the national estimates […] SWS employs its own staff for questionnaire design, sampling, fieldwork, data processing, and analysis and does not outsource any of its survey operations,” it added.