Public satisfaction with the Marcos administration plunged to a record low negative 13 net rating in March 2026, marking the sharpest downturn in public sentiment since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office and the lowest administration rating recorded in 16 years.

Results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that only 32 percent of adult Filipinos were satisfied with the administration’s overall performance, while 46 percent were dissatisfied and 21 percent were undecided, resulting in a net satisfaction below zero.

The rating represented a steep 27-point decline from the administration’s positive 14 net satisfaction score in November 2025. SWS classified the latest result as “poor.”

A separate SWS poll showed that the net satisfaction rating for Marcos slumped to a “poor” -15 in the first quarter of 2026, his lowest rating since the beginning of his administration in 2022.

According to SWS, the March 2026 administration rating is the lowest recorded under the Marcos Jr. administration and the weakest rating for any administration since March 2010, when the Arroyo administration posted a net satisfaction score of negative 45.

Good rating for housing drive

Despite the overall decline, the administration continued to receive favorable marks in several areas of governance.

The highest-rated issue was improving the quality of children’s education, which earned a “very good” net satisfaction score of 52. The administration also received “good” ratings for helping the poor, implementing housing programs for low-income families, creating job opportunities, developing science and technology, and ensuring food security.

However, respondents gave the administration “poor” ratings on fighting inflation, preventing oil companies from taking advantage of oil prices, and eradicating graft and corruption in government. Fighting inflation received the lowest score at negative 15, followed by oil price regulation at negative 12 and anti-corruption efforts at negative 10.

The survey also showed dissatisfaction widening across all major geographic areas.

Balance Luzon posted the administration’s highest rating, with a neutral net score of zero, while Metro Manila and the Visayas each registered a negative 23. Mindanao recorded the lowest rating, at -27. Compared with November 2025, satisfaction declined across all surveyed regions.

Public satisfaction likewise fell in both urban and rural communities, among men and women, and across all age groups and educational levels. The sharpest decline was recorded among college graduates, whose net satisfaction score dropped 40 points to negative 35.

The survey was conducted from 24 to 31 March through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide. It had a margin of error of ±3 percentage points at the national level. SWS said the survey was not commissioned and was undertaken on its own initiative as a public service.