President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte lead the Basic Education Report 2024 at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on January 25, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. suffered a double-digit slide in his approval rating, while Vice President Sara Duterte’s score inched up in a Pulse Asia survey released Wednesday.

Of 2,400 Filipinos polled in late March, 25 percent said they approved of Marcos’ performance. This was 17 points lower than his 42 percent approval score in February.

The latest survey also showed that 53 percent disapproved of his performance, while 25 percent were undecided.

Meanwhile, Duterte was “the only top official” who experienced an improvement in her performance ratings, which rose to 59 percent in March from 52 percent in February, Pulse Asia noted.

Her disapproval rating declined to 16 percent from 26 percent over the same period, the pollster said.

Screenshot from Pulse Asia's findings in its March 2025 Ulat ng Bayan survey 

The survey also found that Senate President Francis Escudero's approval figure declined by 8 points to 39 percent. His disapproval rating was up 6 points at 18 percent.

House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s approval rating “remains unchanged” at 14 percent. However, his disapproval rating climbed to 54 percent in March, up by 14 points from February.

Out of the four officials, only Duterte received a majority trust rating in March, with 61 percent of Filipinos expressing trust in her, Pulse noted.

Fifty-four percent expressed distrust toward Marcos, the pollster said.

Forty-one percent remained “ambivalent” about Escudero’s trustworthiness, while 57 percent distrusted Romualdez, the survey showed. 

EXPLAINING MARCOS’ SLIDE, DUTERTE GAIN 

The same poll found that “pluralities to majorities disapprove of the administration’s efforts” to control inflation (79 percent), fight graft and corruption (53 percent), reduce poverty (48 percent), increase workers’ pay (48 percent). 

Majority approval ratings of 51 percent were only given for the administration’s efforts to protect the welfare of OFWs and respond to the needs of calamity-affected areas. 

Pulse Asia President Ronald Holmes noted that while inflation has eased, “the material conditions of the public have not increased in the past year.” 

“And alongside the political dispute, this definitely adds to the lack of appreciation or even distrust towards the President,” he told ANC.

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Holmes noted that “there are narratives being circulated that the administration has failed to address” crime and corruption – which are among respondents’ top concerns in the survey — and was instead supposedly engaged in political persecution. 

“It might be baseless, but it’s something that has resonated in a large segment of the public, most especially in the Duterte bailiwick in Mindanao, where we see basically the trust and approval of the President in the single digit,” he noted.

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The March 23 to 29 survey was conducted just days after the vice president’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested on March 11 and turned over to the International Criminal Court, on the heels of his family’s falling out with Marcos.

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Before this, the Vice President quit her Cabinet post as education secretary.

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“That distancing from the administration probably shielded her from the disapproval and distrust of the key personalities, most especially the President,” Holmes noted.

“Her approval and trust are largely based on whatever she has done, [her] statements,” he said.    

“We don’t know whether she can sustain it… With the impeachment still pending and depending on the evidence presented… those will eventually impact public opinion,” Holmes added.

Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives in February on charges that include an alleged assassination plot against Marcos.

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The outcome of her Senate trial will likely depend on the number of seats her allies win in May 12 midterm elections.

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A separate Pulse Asia survey in March showed voter support increasing for some Duterte-backed Senate candidates and decreasing for some Marcos-endorsed bets, Holmes noted. 

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