Marcos, Sara Duterte trust ratings down — SWS

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (L) and Vice President Sara Duterte. | PHOTO: PPA POOL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The trust ratings of both President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte dropped in September amid heightened public awareness of government corruption especially in public works, according to a recent survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The results released on Wednesday showed Marcos’ trust rating going down to 43 percent, from 48 percent in June.

Duterte’s trust rating fell to 53 percent from 61 percent during the same period.

For the President, the steepest dip was in Balance Luzon, where his trust rating went down by 9 percentage points, from 60 percent in June to 51 percent in September.

Marcos also recorded lower trust scores in the rest of the regions: 6 points lower in Mindanao (33 to 27); 4 points in the National Capital Region (50 to 46); and three points in the Visayas (40 to 37).

Duterte’s numbers also suffered across all surveyed areas in the country, including her family’s political bailiwick of Mindanao.

Her trust ratings were 82 in Mindanao (down by 7 points from 89); 56 in the Visayas (decreased by 7 points from 63); 44 in NCR (lower by 7 points from 51); and 40 in Balance Luzon (declined by 9 points from 49).

By socioeconomic class, Marcos retained the support of the ABC strata, where his trust rating stayed at 38 percent.

However, his trust scores plummeted among the poor. Among Class D, it went down from 49 to 44 (5 points), and dropped even further from 50 to 38 (down by 12 points) in among the most indigent Filipinos under Class E.

Mixed results for VP

The Vice President’s trust ratings, however, significantly rose among the upper and middle classes, but fell by double digits among the poor.

Among Classes ABC, her score grew by 9 points from 49 to 58. Her trust rating, however, among Class D decreased by 10 points from 62 to 52. It also shaved 5 points off her 68 rating in June to 63 in September.

Commissioned by consultancy firm Stratbase Group, the third quarter SWS survey was conducted from Sept. 24 to 30, the period following the Sept. 21 nationwide protests over the public works corruption scandal unraveling in congressional hearings.

The face-to-face interviews had a total of 1,500 respondents. The sampling error margins were ±3 percent for national percentages, ±4 percent for Balance Luzon, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

According to Stratbase president Dindo Manhit, the decline of Marcos and Duterte ratings reflected “a shifting public mood.”

‘A maturing public’

“Filipinos are reassessing their confidence in the country’s top leaders, with both experiencing dips in trust, though the Vice President’s decline is more significant,” Manhit said in a statement.

The numbers reflect “a maturing public that evaluates leaders more on performance than personality,’’ he added.

“When people see decisive, transparent action on the issues affecting their daily lives, confidence follows,” Manhit said. “When they don’t, it erodes—no matter how popular the leader once was.”

At Malacañang, Palace press officer Claire Castro said that “While [Marcos] pays little attention to survey numbers, he is grateful that people are beginning to feel the government’s presence and see its efforts.”

“The public is now more aware of who truly works for their welfare—and who acts only out of self-interest,” Castro said in reaction to the survey results. — With a report from Inquirer Research 

READ: Marcos goes on working ‘tirelessly’ despite drop in trust rating – Palace