Trust in gov't, other key institutions goes down in 2019; OP most trusted in gov’t

Trust in six key Philippine institutions -- including the government -- went down in 2019, results of a recent survey revealed.

According to results of the 2019 Philippine Trust Index (PTI), trust ratings of government agencies dropped to 76% in 2019 versus the 80% recorded in 2017.

"Extreme trust levels in the government remains the same. Though 'moderate trust' for the government dropped by 4 percentage points, extreme trust levels for the institution has remained the same since 2017," communications consultancy firm EON said.

The PTI is the EON Group's proprietary research that delves into the levels and drivers of trust among Filipinos.

The survey covers socioeconomic, educational, geographic, and demographic backgrounds to look into how much Filipinos trust key institutions in the country.

The latest edition was conducted from March to April 2019, covering a total of 1,476 responses from randomly selected households.

The results have a margin of ±4, with a confidence level of 95%.

"Filipinos trust the Office of the President (OP) more than any other sub institution within the government," EON said in an accompanying statement.

Trust ratings of the OP registered a slight increase to 83% from 82%, while all other government sub-institutions posted declines in their respective trust ratings.

According to the survey, respondents from Mindanao trust the government the most, compared with Filipinos from other areas across the country.

The government scored an 89% trust rating in Mindanao, followed by 80% in North Luzon, 79% in South Luzon, 69% in Visayas, and 63% in the National Capital Region.

"Filipinos with access to social media are less trusting of the government," said EON, noting that the government had a 75% trust rating for those with social media, and 77% for those without.

Meanwhile, the youth sector showed the least trust in the government.

"Only 70% of Filipinos aged 18 to 24, consisting mostly of Gen Z's and late Millennials, trust in the government, which is the lowest percentile point among the age groups," said EON.

The highest trust rating was recorded among those aged 35 to 44 with 81%, followed by 41 years and above with 77%, and those aged 25 to 34 with 75%.

Aside from the government, all the other institutions covered by the survey also garnered less trust from Filipinos this year.

The steepest drop in trust ratings was noted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at 37% (from 59%), followed by media at 69% (from 78%), and business at 71% (from 75%).

These were followed by the church at 90% and the academe at 90%, which both registered a 3-percentage point drop in trust ratings during the latest period.

"Changes around us are becoming more turbulent and societies more fragmented, that trust now holds an even greater power across all institutions," said Junie del Mundo, co-founder and CEO of the EON Group.

"We hope that through the PTI, we can all get a glimpse of a snapshot of our people’s wealth of trust, and that we are all provoked to ask the right questions moving forward," added del Mundo. — MDM, GMA News