Filipinos Give Marcos Administration Failing Marks on Inflation, Corruption - Pulse Asia

By Pulse Asia

Inflation (54%) and corruption (51%) top the list of national concerns Filipinos are most concerned about in September 2025; several notable changes in public concern about selected national issues occur between June 2025 and September as well as year-onyear

Amidst the ongoing congressional investigations into budget insertions and ghost infrastructure projects, 51% of Filipino adults cite the need to fight graft and corruption in government as a national concern that the incumbent administration needs to address immediately. This overall level of concern is essentially the same as that recorded on the issue of inflation (54%) – an issue that has consistently been the leading urgent national concern of adults in the country. In distant third place is increasing the pay of workers (37%), which is followed by a set of issues that includes fighting criminality (23%), reducing poverty (23%), fighting the widespread sale and use of illegal drugs (22%), and creating more jobs (20%). Meanwhile, taxes (12%), assistance for farmers (11%), peace (10%), involuntary hunger (10%), and rule of law (8%) comprise another group of urgent national concerns cited by about a tenth of the country’s adult population. On the other hand, Filipinos are least concerned about environmental destruction (6%), assistance for small entrepreneurs (5%), national territorial integrity (4%), welfare of overseas Filipino workers (3%), and terrorism (1%). Flood control is an issue volunteered by 1% of adults. (Please refer to Table 1.)

In September 2025, inflation is the leading first-ranked urgent national concern of Filipino adults (24%) while inflation and corruption are the top second-ranked responses (18% and 20%, respectively). The most often cited third-ranked issues are corruption (13%), inflation (12%), workers’ pay (11%), illegal drugs (10%), poverty (9%), and jobs (9%).

Table 1
MOST URGENT NATIONAL CONCERNS

September 27 - 30, 2025 / Philippines
(In Percent / Multiple Response, up to 3 allowed)

Small to sizeable majorities in Metro Manila (56%), the Visayas (54%), Mindanao (63%), Class D (55%), and Class E (55%) are concerned about the rising prices of basic commodities. Most of those in the rest of Luzon (56%), the Visayas (55%), and Class ABC (66%) opine that the national administration must immediately address the problem of corruption in government. In contrast, single-digit levels of concerns in all geographic areas and socio-economic classes are posted on the issues of environmental destruction (2% to 7% and 1% to 6%, respectively), assistance for small entrepreneurs (2% to 7% and 3% to 6%, respectively), national territorial integrity (almost nil to 8% and 2% to 5%, respectively), welfare of overseas Filipino workers (2% to 4% and 1% to 3%, respectively), and terrorism (virtually nil to 4% and essentially none to 2%, respectively). (Please refer to Table 2.)

Table 2
MOST URGENT NATIONAL CONCERNS: OVERALL

September 27 - 30, 2025 / Philippines
(In Percent / Multiple Response, up to 3 allowed)

Public concern about corruption in government and criminality becomes more pronounced not only from June 2025 to September 2025 (+27 and +6 percentage points, respectively) but also year-on-year (+27 and +7 percentage points, respectively). On the other hand, levels of concern decline during the period June 2025 to September 2025 on the issues of involuntary hunger (-7 percentage points), assistance for small entrepreneurs (-7 percentage points), inflation (-8 percentage points), and workers’ pay (-14 percentage points). In the meantime, between September 2024 and September 2025, concern eases on the issues of assistance for farmers (-5 percentage points), jobs (-8 percentage points), involuntary hunger (-10 percentage points), and inflation (-17 percentage points). (Please refer to Table 3.)

Table 3
MOST URGENT NATIONAL CONCERNS

September 2024 to September 2025 / Philippines
(In Percent / Multiple Response, up to 3 allowed)

Across geographic and socio-economic subgroupings, the following movements in public opinion take place between June 2025 and September 2025:

1.     controlling inflation – -16 percentage points in Metro Manila;

2.     fighting graft and corruption in government – +22 to +31 percentage points in the various geographic areas and +21 to +35 percentage points across classes;

3.     increasing the pay of workers – -14 percentage points in the rest of Luzon, -23 percentage points in Mindanao, -28 percentage points in Class ABC, and -11 percentage points in Class D;

4.     fighting criminality – +14 percentage points in Metro Manila and +9 percentage points in Class D;

5.     creating more jobs – -16 percentage points in Metro Manila, -14 percentage points in the Visayas, and -17 percentage points in Class E;

6.     promoting peace – -18 percentage points in Class E; and

7.     addressing the problem of involuntary hunger – -10 percentage points in Class D.

(Please refer to Table 4.)

Table 4
MOST URGENT NATIONAL CONCERNS

June and September 2025 / Philippines
(In Percent / Multiple Response, up to 3 allowed)

The national administration’s only majority approval rating (58%) is recorded on the issue of protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs); public assessment of the administration’s quarterly performance across selected issues changes significantly not only from June 2025 to September 2025 but also over the past 12 months

A small majority of Filipino adults (58%) have a positive opinion about the present dispensation’s efforts to protect the welfare of OFWs. Appreciation is the plurality sentiment toward the latter’s work in the areas of responding to the needs of calamity-hit areas (46%), defending national territorial integrity (43%), and helping farmers (39%). In contrast, most adults are critical of the incumbent administration’s handling of four (4) issues – reducing poverty (57%), fighting the widespread sale and use of illegal drugs (61%), controlling inflation (64%), and fighting graft and corruption in government (69%). The last two (2) issues are the leading urgent national concerns in September 2025. Additionally, the administration scores big plurality disapproval ratings on the issues of workers’ pay (42%), involuntary hunger (43%), and criminality (44%). (Please refer to Table

5.)

While the administration has the same approval and indecision ratings on the issue of protecting the environment (both at 35%), it registers practically the same disapproval and indecision scores on the issue of enforcing the rule of law (34% versus 36%). In the meantime, there is a three-way split in public opinion regarding the latter’s initiatives to create more jobs (34% approval, 30% indecision, and 35% disapproval) and promoting peace (33% approval, 32% indecision, and 35% disapproval).

Out of the 14 issues on which comparative performance ratings are available for the period June 2025 to September 2025, the administration experiences a decline in its approval scores on nine (9) issues – jobs (-8 percentage points), criminality (-8 percentage points), involuntary hunger (-8 percentage points), environmental destruction (-9 percentage points), peace (-9 percentage points), graft and corruption (-11 percentage points), rule of law (-13 percentage points), assistance for farmers (-14 percentage points), and disaster response (-17 percentage points). As regards disapproval ratings, these go up on the issues of assistance for farmers (+7 percentage points), criminality (+8 percentage points), disaster response (+10 percentage points), and graft and corruption (+19 percentage points). In contrast, disapproval eases on the issue of workers’ pay (-6 percentage points). (Please refer to Table 6.)

Ambivalence toward the administration’s handling of eight (8) national issues becomes more notable from June 2025 to September 2025 – disaster response (+6 percentage points), environmental destruction (+6 percentage points), welfare of OFWs (+7 percentage points), national territorial integrity (+7 percentage points), assistance for farmers (+7 percentage points), peace (+7 percentage points), jobs (+9 percentage points), and rule of law (+11 percentage points). Indecision becomes less marked only on the issue of graft and corruption in government (-6 percentage points).

Table 5
PERCEIVED URGENCY OF SELECTED NATIONAL ISSUES AND
THE NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION'S PERFORMANCE RATINGS

September 27 - 30, 2025 / Philippines
(Row Percent)

Table 6
COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE RATINGS OF THE NATIONAL
ADMINISTRATION ON SELECTED NATIONAL ISSUES

June and September 2025 / Philippines (In Percent)

On a positive note, the current administration enjoys improvements in this overall approval ratings between September 2024 and September 2025 on the issues of creating more jobs (+6 percentage points), increasing the pay of workers (+14 percentage points), and controlling inflation (+14 percentage points). The reverse occurs on the issues of protecting the environment (-5 percentage points), protecting the welfare of OFWs (-7 percentage points), enforcing the rule of law (-10 percentage points), fighting criminality (-11 percentage points), responding to the needs of calamity-hit areas (-13 percentage points), and promoting peace (-14 percentage points). (Please refer to Table 7.)

Year-on-year, the administration’s disapproval ratings increase as far as its handling of 11 issues is concerned. These issues are protecting the welfare of OFWs (+6 percentage points), defending national territorial integrity (+6 percentage points), addressing the problem of involuntary hunger (+6 percentage points), helping farmers (+10 percentage points), protecting the environment (+10 percentage points), reducing poverty (+10 percentage points), enforcing the rule of law (+17 percentage points), promoting peace (+18 percentage points), responding to the needs of calamity-hit areas (+22 percentage points), fighting criminality (+23 percentage points), and fighting corruption (+25 percentage points). The only decline in the latter’s disapproval score is recorded on the issue of controlling inflation (-17 percentage points).

Levels of indecision toward the administration’s performance drop on the issues of environmental degradation (-6 percentage points), rule of law (-9 percentage points), disaster response (-10 percentage points), jobs (-10 percentage points), involuntary hunger (-10 percentage points), criminality (-12 percentage points), assistance for farmers (-13 percentage points), poverty (-14 percentage points), workers’ pay (-17 percentage points), and corruption (-23 percentage points).

Table 7
COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE RATINGS OF THE NATIONAL
ADMINISTRATION ON SELECTED NATIONAL ISSUES (YEAR-ON-YEAR)

September 2024 and September 2025 / Philippines (In Percent)