Marcos trust, performance ratings fall; Sara Duterte hold steady in OCTA Q3 survey

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. saw a decline in his trust and performance ratings while Vice President Sara Duterte's ratings held steady in the latest OCTA Research Group survey.

Based on OCTA's Tugon ng Masa noncommissioned survey, the results of which were released Wednesday, Marcos' trust rating declined from 49% in July to 45% in September.

His distrust rose from 32% to 36%, while 19% remained undecided.

The President's performance rating also fell from 47% in July to 44% in September, while his dissatisfaction increased from 33% to 36%.

"This is the second consecutive quarterly decline in both ratings, following a brief rebound in March 2026, and the fourth decline in the last five survey rounds," OCTA explained.

"Since July 2025, his trust rating has fallen by 19 points (from 64%) and his performance rating by 18 points (from 62%)," it added.

The survey showed that Balance Luzon remains the only major area where he holds majority ratings, at 54% trust and 55% satisfaction.

Marcos' lowest ratings were recorded in Mindanao with 28% trust and 27% satisfaction.

By socioeconomic class, Class E gives him his highest ratings, at 59% trust and 55% satisfaction.

Palace reaction

In a statement, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said the survey serves as a reminder but does not show the true work of the President.

"Ang mga tao na naabot na ng gobyerno tulad ng mga magsasaka, mga pasyenteng nakaranas ng zero balance billing sa mga hospital ay maaaring hindi nakasama sa mga survey kaya iba iba ang numerong lumalabas sa mga survey," Castro said.

(People who have already been provided assistance by the government such as farmers, patients who experienced zero balance billing in hospitals may not have been included in the surveys, so the numbers that appear in the surveys are different.)

"Dahil ang mga nagbago ang kondisyon sa Walang Gutom program ay maganda ang nabigay na numero. Anumang numero ang lumabas ay hindi magpapatigil at magpapatinag sa ating pangulo sa pagtatrabaho," she added.

(Because those whose conditions have changed in the Walang Gutom program, the numbers given are good. Whatever number comes out will not stop and sway our president from working.)

Sara Duterte

Meanwhile, Duterte's trust rating slightly increased from 47% to 48%, while distrust remain unchanged at 33%.

Her performance rating also went up from 45% to 46% while the dissatifaction remained at 36%.

"These small gains are within the margin of error and do not yet amount to a recovery," OCTA said.

It added that Duterte's performance rating fell in two successive quarters from 54% in December 2025 to 50% in March and 45% in July 2026.

Meanwhile, her trust rating fell by 8 points between March and July, from 55% to 47%.

"Her September ratings remain just above the series lows recorded in July," OCTA said.

"Beneath the steady national figures, her trust rose by 12 points in NCR and 8 points in the Visayas, but fell by 7 points in Class ABC and 11 points in Class E," it added.

The survey revealed that Duterte continues to enjoy very high ratings in Mindanao at 94% trust and 88% performance and majority ratings in the Visayas at 66% trust and 60% performance.

However, her ratings are much lower in NCR, at 40% trust and 24% satisfaction, and in Balance Luzon, at 25% on both measures.

The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adult Filipinos from September 28 to October 4, 2026.

It has ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level. Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have margins of error of ±6% for NCR, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, also at a 95% confidence level. —KG, GMA News