MANILA, Philippines — The approval and trust ratings of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. experienced a marginal increase in September, whereas Vice President Sara Duterte encountered slight decreases across her equivalent metrics, according to the latest nationwide poll released by Pulse Asia Research Inc. on Thursday, October 15.
The independent survey, carried out from September 17 to 24, showed that President Marcos saw both his approval and trust scores tick up by 1 percentage point, landing at 30% and 29% respectively compared to the polling firm’s previous round in July. Conversely, Vice President Duterte’s approval rating dropped by 2 percentage points to 54%, while her trust rating slipped 3 points down to 55%.
Despite the minor downward shift, Duterte comfortably retained the backing of the majority of Filipino adults.
”Small majorities continue to approve of the Vice-President’s performance (54%) and trust her (55%) while near majorities are critical of the President’s work (49%) and express distrust in him (48%),” Pulse Asia reported.
Regional and Class Breakdowns
Public sentiment toward the country’s top two leaders continued to display deep regional and socioeconomic divides.
For the President, nearly half of the respondents (48%) indicated distrust, 29% registered solid trust, and 22% remained undecided. Marcos drew his strongest trust figures in Balance Luzon (43%) alongside socioeconomic brackets ABC (33%) and D (30%).
However, heavy disapproval and distrust hound his administration in Mindanao (66%) and the Visayas (60%), as well as within Class E (55%).
On the other side, Duterte secured a 55% overall trust rating, with 27% expressing minimal or zero trust, and 19% staying fence-sitters. Her strongest stronghold remains in Mindanao, where she pulled a staggering 94% trust rating, alongside 69% from Class E.
Her highest resistance materialized in the National Capital Region at 41%, alongside Class D (28%) and Class ABC (27%).
Performance Metrics
When evaluated on job performance over the preceding quarter, 49% of Filipino adults expressed dissatisfaction with President Marcos, overshadowing the 30% who approved and the 21% who stayed ambivalent.
Duterte fared significantly better on performance indicators, keeping a majority approval rating of 54%, contrasted with a 27% disapproval rating and 18% indecision.
Presidential performance peaked in Balance Luzon (42%) and Class ABC (37%), whereas the Vice President’s performance peaked heavily in Mindanao (91%) and Class E (68%).
The face-to-face poll engaged 2,400 adult respondents aged 18 and above. It carries a national error margin of ±2% at a 95% confidence level, and a ±4% error margin across distinct geographic regions including Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.