THE public's approval and trust in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Vice President Sara Duterte, and other national government officials and agencies have suffered a significant hit, Publicus Asia's Pahayag 2024 First Quarter survey showed.

Marcos and Duterte's approval ratings plummeted to their lowest levels since the third quarter of 2022 — from 58 percent for the fourth quarter of 2023 to 44 percent for the first quarter of 2024 for the President and from 59 percent to 53 percent for the vice president.

The lower numbers were due to the public's growing concerns regarding issues such as inflation, corruption and perceived weak leadership, Publicus Asia noted.

The President lost points even in his bailiwick of North-Central Luzon, where his approval rating dropped from 62 percent to 52 percent. In South Luzon, his approval rating dropped from 55 percent to 43 percent, and in the Visayas, from 57 percent to 40 percent.

He suffered the biggest drop in Mindanao, where his approval rating fell from 62 percent to 36 percent. In Mindanao, disapproval for Marcos rose from 13 percent to 30 percent.

On the other hand, Duterte's ratings drop was most notable in South Luzon, from 51 percent to 40 percent; North-Central Luzon, from 56 percent to 47 percent; and the National Capital Region (NCR), from 52 percent to 47 percent. The NCR recorded the highest disapproval for Duterte at 34 percent.

For elected officials, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri's approval rating dipped from 47 percent to 42 percent, with declines particularly notable in the NCR (45 percent to 38 percent), North-Central Luzon (45 percent to 39 percent), South Luzon (39 percent to 47 percent) and Mindanao (51 percent to 47 percent).

Meanwhile, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez's approval rating also took a big hit, sliding from 36 percent to 25 percent, the poll showed. Of particular concern, Mindanao recorded the highest disapproval rating at 39 percent, closely followed by the Visayas at 37 percent, where Romualdez represents Leyte's first district.

The approval rating of Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo took a dive from 37 percent to 29 percent.

Public perception of Marcos also showed a decline, with an all-time lowest trust rating of 33 percent. The highest distrust was observed in the Visayas-Mindanao regions at 34 percent.

Similarly, Duterte's trust rating dropped from 53 percent to 46 percent, with the NCR and South Luzon exhibiting the highest levels of distrust at 37 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

Zubiri's trust rating also decreased from 35 percent to 29 percent, while Romualdez's rating plummeted from 25 percent to 18 percent. Distrust increased significantly from 29 percent to 38 percent, with Mindanao recording the highest level at 44 percent, followed closely by the Visayas at 40 percent and the NCR at 39 percent.

Gesmundo's trust rating also experienced a drop from 28 percent to 20 percent.

The public's disapproval of the administration extended beyond its top officials, encompassing all government agencies except for the Philippine National Police, which maintained a stable rating, Publicus Asia said.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority stands out as the most approved and trusted agency, with approval and trust ratings at 71 percent and 59 percent, respectively. Following closely is the Armed Forces of the Philippines, with an approval rating of 67 percent and a trust rating of 55 percent.

Other government agencies that garnered high approval ratings were the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Department of Science and Technology (DoST), and Department of Social Welfare and Development at 62 percent, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) at 61 percent, Department of Education at 59 percent, Department of Health (DoH) and Civil Service Commission at 58 percent, and Department of Foreign Affairs at 57 percent.

In terms of trust, DepEd had the highest rating with 50 percent, followed by BSP and CHEd at 49 percent, DoST at 48 percent, DSWD at 46 percent, DoH at 45 percent, and both CSC and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) at 42 percent. These ratings reflect the varying degrees of public confidence in different government agencies amid the broader dissatisfaction with the current administration.

Pahayag 2024 First Quarter (PQ1-2024), conducted by Publicus Asia Inc., is an independent and non-commissioned survey. The survey period was from March 14-18, 2024, using purposive sampling composed of 1,500 respondents randomly drawn from the market research panel of over 200,000 registered Filipino voters maintained by the Singapore office of PureSpectrum, a US-based panel marketplace with a multinational presence. The margin of error was +/-3 percent.

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