Many Filipinos remain adamant about withholding trust in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. due to his failure to curb rising commodity prices, based on a survey.
The survey conducted by Pulse Asia, titled “Ulat ng Bayan” and released Tuesday, indicated that despite a plurality of Filipino adults (44%) distrusting the President, they are divided on their reasons for holding a negative opinion about his trustworthiness.
"The leading reasons that are cited by virtually the same percentages of those distrusting the latter are his failure to fight corruption (16.7%), to fulfill his promises (15.3%), to perform his duties (13.8%), to control the prices of goods (12.3%), and to fight criminality (10.1%) as well as his alleged involvement in corrupt activities (12.0%)," the report indicated.
"Other reasons are given by at most 9.2% of those distrusting the President,” it added.
At the national level, other reasons for trusting the President, mentioned by at least a tenth of those who have a positive opinion about his trustworthiness, include helping calamity-hit areas and victims (12.4%), his administration’s programs improving the lives of Filipinos (10.9%), and his efforts to help farmers (9.9%). Other reasons are given by at most 4.9% of those who trust him.
Meanwhile, Vice President Sara Duterte’s trust rating was recorded at 54%. Among the reasons cited for her positive trust rating, the top factor is her perceived capability to govern (12.8%).
It was also cited that Duterte is "pro-poor (12.7%), courageous (12.4%), and helpful (9.1%) as well as her having strong convictions (9.0%) and being quick to respond to calamities (7.9%). Other reasons are cited by at most 5.4% of those trusting the Vice-President," the report stated.
In contrast, the top reason for distrusting the Vice President is her alleged involvement in corrupt activities (51.5%), while most of those ambivalent toward her trustworthiness said this is due to her failure to address allegations of misuse of her confidential funds.
“The majority of Filipino adults who trust the Vice- President (54%) are divided as regards the reason behind this sentiment, with their top reasons for having a positive opinion about her trustworthiness being her being capable of governing (12.8%), pro-poor (12.7%), courageous (12.4%), and helpful (9.1%) as well as her having strong convictions (9.0%) and being quick to respond to calamities (7.9%),” the survey said.
Moreover, the Pulse Asia survey found that Sara’s alleged involvement in corrupt activities is the leading reason for distrust in her, not only in the Philippines as a whole (51.5%) but also across all areas and classes (47.9% to 90.7% and 47.8% to 60.3%, respectively).
“Around a fifth of those distrusting the latter (21.4%) attribute this sentiment to the threats she has made against the administration and those critical of her. Other reasons for distrusting the Vice-President are given by at most 5.4% of those with a negative sentiment toward her trustworthiness,” the survey said.
The nationwide survey was conducted from Feb. 27 to March 2 using face-to-face interviews, based on a sample of 1,200 representative adults aged 18 and above.