Corruption Fuels Distrust in Marcos Jr., Duterte - Pulse Asia

By Pulse Asia

The leading reason for trusting the President is his fight against corruption (28.6%) while the most often mentioned reason for indecision toward his trustworthiness is his failure to control inflation (39.3%); those with a negative opinion about the President’s trustworthiness are split in terms of their reasons for distrusting him

Trust in the President. Among those who trust the President, their leading reason for doing so is because of his efforts to fight corruption in government (28.6%) This is the top reason cited by Metro Manilans (37.1%), those in the rest of Luzon (29.4%), and those belonging to Class D (30.3%). Almost the same percentages of Visayans and those in Class E say they trust the latter either because he fights corruption (23.7% to 26.3%) or due to the improvements in the lives of Filipinos as a result of his administration’s programs (30.2% to 31.6%). Among Mindanawons, the most often cited reasons are the improvements in the Filipinos’ quality of life that they credit to the President’s programs (25.7%), his initiatives to help those affected by calamities (18.3%), and his efforts to give financial assistance or ayuda to those in need (18.3%). As for those in Class ABC, their top reasons are because the President helps disaster victims (28.0%), he fights corruption (21.9%), and he extends assistance to the agricultural sector (11.4%). (Please refer to Table 1.)

At the national level, the other reasons for trusting the President mentioned by at least a tenth of those who have a positive opinion about his trustworthiness are because he helps calamity-hit areas and victims (12.4%), his administration’s programs have succeeded in improving the lives of Filipinos (10.9%), and his efforts to help farmers (9.9%). Other reasons are given by at most 4.9% of those who trust the latter.

Table 1
PRIMARY REASON FOR TRUSTING PRESIDENT FERDINAND "BONGBONG" R. MARCOS JR.

February 27 - March 2, 2026 / Philippines
(In Percent / SINGLE ANSWER ONLY / OPEN-ENDED / SUMMARY)

Indecision toward the President’s trustworthiness. A considerable plurality of those who cannot say if they trust or distrust the President (39.3%) attribute their indecision to his inability to control the rising price of basic commodities. Sizeable pluralities to bare majorities in the rest of Luzon (51.8%), Mindanao (35.7%), and Class D (44.2%) share this assessment. In Class E, almost the same percentages are ambivalent about presidential trustworthiness either because the latter has been unable to curb inflation (36.0%) or due to his lack of action to address economic problems (30.7%). (Please refer to Table 2.)

The most often cited reasons for indecision regarding presidential trustworthiness among Metro Manilans are his failure to have any of those involved in the flood control projects scandal arrested (23.2%), the continued increase in the prices of basic goods (19.5%), his alleged use of illegal drugs (14.0%), and his failure to fulfill his promises (12.1%). As for Visayans, their leading reasons are the President’s failure to lower the prices of commodities (17.9%), to hold accountable any of those behind the flood control projects scandal (17.9%), to fulfill his promises (12.5%), to address the problem of illegal drugs (11.0%), and to resolve the country’s economic problems (6.1%) as well as his reported use of illegal drugs (16.6%) and his alleged involvement in corrupt activities (9.1%).

In the best-off Class ABC, the top reasons are the President’s inability to have any of those behind the flood control projects scandal arrested (25.8%), to solve the problems being faced by the country (17.4%), to lower the prices of basic commodities (16.0%), to fulfill his promises (14.9%), and to address the problem of illegal drugs (12.4%).

Table 2
PRIMARY REASON FOR INDECISION ON THE TRUSTWORTHINESS OF PRESIDENT FERDINAND "BONGBONG" R. MARCOS JR.

February 27 - March 2, 2026 / Philippines
(In Percent / SINGLE ANSWER ONLY / OPEN-ENDED / SUMMARY)

Distrust in the President. Although a big plurality of Filipino adults (44%) distrust the President, they are divided in terms of their reasons why they have a negative opinion about his trustworthiness. The leading reasons that are cited by virtually the same percentages of those distrusting the latter are his failure to fight corruption (16.7%), to fulfill his promises (15.3%), to perform his duties (13.8%), to control the prices of goods (12.3%), and to fight criminality (10.1%) as well as his alleged involvement in corrupt activities (12.0%). Other reasons are given by at most 9.2% of those distrusting the President. (Please refer to Table 3.)

Public opinion regarding distrust in the President is also split across areas and classes, with the exception of Class ABC where a considerable plurality of those distrusting him attributing this sentiment to his inability to fight corruption (38.0%). In Class E, the most often mentioned reasons are the President’s failure to fulfill his promises (25.1%), to perform his duties (20.6%), and to fight illegal drugs (11.9%). Practically the same percentages of those belonging to Class D who distrust the latter say this is because he has not been able to fulfill his promises (15.2%), to control inflation (13.8%), to fight corruption (13.7%), to perform his duties (12.9%), and to address the problem of illegal drugs (10.5%) as well as his being involved in corruption (13.2%).

In Metro Manila, the most often given reasons for distrusting the President are his alleged involvement in corrupt activities (20.5%), his reported use of illegal drugs (12.7%), and his failure to perform his duties (17.3%), to fight corruption (16.7%), and to fulfill his promises (13.5%). Among those in the rest of Luzon, the leading reasons for distrust are his failure to fight corruption (29.0%) and to control the rising prices of basic commodities (26.4%). Those in the Visayas are most inclined to distrust the President because of his inability to hold accountable those involved in corrupt activities (22.0%), to fight illegal drugs (17.4%), and to fulfill his promises (15.3%) as well as his reported involvement in corruption (19.3%). As for Mindanawons, they are most likely to distrust the President due to his failure to perform his duties (21.4%), to fulfill his promises (20.8%), and to address the problem of illegal drugs (11.2%).

Table 3
PRIMARY REASON FOR DISTRUSTING PRESIDENT FERDINAND "BONGBONG" R. MARCOS JR.

February 27 - March 2, 2026 / Philippines
(In Percent / SINGLE ANSWER ONLY / OPEN-ENDED / SUMMARY)

Those with a positive opinion about the Vice-President’s trustworthiness are split in terms of their reasons for trusting; in contrast, the top reason for distrusting the latter is her alleged involvement in corrupt activities (51.5%) while most of those ambivalent toward her trustworthiness say this is because she has failed to address allegations of misuse of her confidential funds

Trust in the Vice-President. The majority of Filipino adults who trust the VicePresident (54%) are divided as regards the reason behind this sentiment, with their top reasons for having a positive opinion about her trustworthiness being her being capable of governing (12.8%), pro-poor (12.7%), courageous (12.4%), and helpful (9.1%) as well as her having strong convictions (9.0%) and being quick to respond to calamities (7.9%). Other reasons are cited by at most 5.4% of those trusting the Vice-President. (Please refer to Table 4.)

A little over a quarter of Metro Manilans (26.4%) trust the Vice-President because they see her as being a capable leader. Public opinion in the other areas and all classes concerning trust in the Vice-President is split. In the rest of Luzon, the top reasons for trusting the latter are her being pro-poor (18.7%), her quick response to disasters (13.6%), her efforts to fight illegal drugs and corruption (10.2% to 14.2%), and her being helpful (7.9%) and a capable leader (7.2%). Among Visayans, they are most likely to trust the Vice-President because she is courageous (18.6%), pro-poor (17.9%), has leadership capabilities (12.5%), has strong convictions (12.2%), and responds to disasters promptly (10.7%). As for Mindanawons, 12 reasons are among those most often mentioned by about the same percentages of those trusting her. These are her being courageous (13.9%), helpful (13.9%), a capable leader (12.7%), the daughter of former President Duterte (7.5%), pro-poor (6.5%), not corrupt (5.3%), quick to respond to natural disasters (3.7%), and caring (2.2%) as well as her having strong convictions (10.1%), having good plans for the country (4.8%), accomplished a lot (4.0%), and fulfilled her promises (3.9%). 

A host of reasons are mentioned by nearly the same percentages of those in either Class ABC or Class E who trust the Vice-President. Numerically speaking, the top reasons in these socioeconomic groupings are the latter’s being courageous (14.7% in Class ABC) and pro-poor (10.1% in Class E).

Table 4
PRIMARY REASON FOR TRUSTING VICE-PRESIDENT SARA DUTERTE

February 27 - March 2, 2026 / Philippines
(In Percent / SINGLE ANSWER ONLY / OPEN-ENDED / SUMMARY)

Indecision toward the Vice-President’s trustworthiness. At the national level (51.0%) and across all geographic and socioeconomic subgroupings (42.2% to 81.7% and 48.6% to 63.6%, respectively), near to huge majorities are unable to say if they trust or distrust the VicePresident because of her failure to address the allegations regarding her misuse of the confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice-President and the Department of Education (DepEd) under her leadership. Other reasons identified by at least a tenth of those ambivalent toward the Vice-President’s trustworthiness are their lack of knowledge about what she has accomplished (17.8%) and her refusal to face investigations against her (10.3%).

The rest of the reasons for one’s indecision on the matter of trusting or distrusting the Vice-President are cited by at most 5.5%. (Please refer to Table 5.)

Table 5
PRIMARY REASON FOR INDECISION ON THE TRUSTWORTHINESS OF VICE-PRESIDENT SARA DUTERTE

February 27 - March 2, 2026 / Philippines
(In Percent / SINGLE ANSWER ONLY / OPEN-ENDED / SUMMARY)

Distrust in the Vice-President. The Vice-President’s alleged involvement in corrupt activities is the leading reason for distrust in her not only in the Philippines as a whole (51.5%) but also in each area and class (47.9% to 90.7% and 47.8% to 60.3%, respectively). Around a fifth of those distrusting the latter (21.4%) attribute this sentiment to the threats she has made against the administration and those critical of her. Other reasons for distrusting the Vice-President are given by at most 5.4% of those with a negative sentiment toward her trustworthiness.  (Please refer to Table 6.)

Table 6
PRIMARY REASON FOR DISTRUSTING VICE-PRESIDENT SARA DUTERTE

February 27 - March 2, 2026 / Philippines
(In Percent / SINGLE ANSWER ONLY / OPEN-ENDED / SUMMARY)