MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio garnered a significantly higher public approval rating than President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., according to the latest Pulse Asia survey, highlighting a widening perception gap in the performance of the country’s two highest officials.
Results of the nationwide poll conducted from Feb. 27 to March 2 among 1,200 Filipino adults showed that 55 percent of respondents approved of Duterte-Carpio’s performance during the past quarter, placing her well ahead of Marcos’ 36-percent approval rating in the same survey.
According to Pulse Asia, the Vice President recorded majority approval ratings across several regions and socioeconomic classes.
“Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio ‘enjoys small to big majority approval ratings in the Visayas (72%), Mindanao (95%), Class D (57%), and Class E (81%),’” Pulse Asia said.
The survey also showed that half of respondents in Metro Manila expressed appreciation for Duterte-Carpio’s performance, although a large plurality of residents in the rest of Luzon registered disapproval.
“Practically the same approval and disapproval figures are recorded in Class ABC (36% versus 44%),” it said.
In terms of public trust, Duterte-Carpio likewise posted a majority confidence rating. The poll found that 54 percent of respondents said they trust the Vice President, while 26 percent expressed distrust and 20 percent remained undecided.
President Marcos, meanwhile, obtained a 36-percent approval rating, with less than half of Filipinos expressing satisfaction with his performance during the past three months.
“Across geographic and socioeconomic subgroupings, the only majority approval score of the President is recorded in the rest of Luzon (54%). In contrast, disapproval for the latter’s work prevails in the Visayas (61%), Mindanao (73%), and Class E (60%),” the pollster noted.
“Almost half of those belonging to Class D (47%) also have a negative assessment of presidential performance. While the same approval and disapproval ratings are posted by the President in Metro Manila (both at 42%), a three-way divide may be observed in Class ABC (41% approval, 29% indecision, and 30% disapproval),” it added.
On trust ratings, 35 percent of respondents said they trust Marcos while 44 percent expressed distrust and 21 percent said they were undecided.
The survey also identified inflation as the most urgent concern among Filipinos, cited by 59 percent of respondents. Corruption in government ranked second at 47 percent, followed by workers’ salaries at 36 percent.
Pulse Asia further noted that the national administration received its only majority approval rating in protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers, which was cited by 53 percent of respondents.
However, majorities of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s efforts to address poverty, corruption, illegal drugs and inflation.
The survey had a margin of error of ±2.8 percent at the 95-percent confidence level./PN
