A recent Pulse Asia survey revealed that corruption is the leading factor behind Filipinos’ distrust of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte.
The poll, conducted from February 27 to March 2, asked respondents to identify their main reasons for either trusting or distrusting the country’s top officials.
The results showed that 35% of Filipinos expressed trust in Marcos, while 44% said they distrust him. Another 21% remained undecided. Duterte fared better, with a trust rating of 54%, compared to 26% who distrust her and 20% who were undecided.
For Marcos, 16.7% of those who distrust him pointed to his “failure to fight corruption or the lack of accountability in corruption issues” as their primary concern.
Other reasons included his perceived failure to fulfill promises (15.3%), failure to perform his duties (13.8%), inability to control rising prices (12.3%), and alleged involvement in corruption (12%).
Additional factors cited were his supposed lack of action against criminality and illegal drugs (10.1%), accusations of being a drug addict (9.2%), slow disaster response (2.5%), and targeting the Duterte family (1.4%).
Interestingly, Marcos’ anti-corruption stance was also the top reason among those who trust him. Of his supporters, 28.6% said they trust him because of his efforts to “expose and fight corruption.”
Other reasons included helping disaster victims (12.4%), implementing programs to improve lives (10.9%), supporting farmers (9.9%), and repairing public infrastructure (4.9%).
Meanwhile, distrust in Duterte was overwhelmingly tied to corruption allegations, with 51.5% of respondents citing her “alleged involvement in corruption” as their reason.
This was followed by her threats against the administration (21.4%), repeated cursing (5.4%), perceived inaction (5.1%), and frequent trips abroad (4.5%).