Pulse Asia: 97% of Pinoys believe gov't corruption is widespread

A whopping 97% of Filipinos believe corruption in government is widespread and that journalists are best to address it at 51%, the latest Pulse Asia non-commissioned survey showed.

Pulse Asia's Nationwide Survey on Corruption conducted from September 27 to 30, 2025 or during the Marcos administration’s crackdown and congressional investigations on anomalous government flood control projects, showed a mere 2% of Filipino adults are unable to say if corruption is widespread or not in the Philippine government.

The scores across all income class are almost identical, with 98% of Filipinos in income class ABC and income class E saying there is widespread corruption in government, just a little higher than class D’s 97%.

One hundred percent of Filipinos in Visayas also said government corruption is widespread, against those in Metro Manila at 95%, Balance Luzon at 96% and 98% in Mindanao.

Past 12 months

The same Pulse Asia survey showed that 85% of Filipinos believe government corruption increased in the last 12 months, while 12% said government corruption stayed the same.

Only 3% of Filipinos said government corruption decreased in the last year.

Trustworthiness

The media also emerged as the most trustworthy to address corruption in flood control projects in the latest Pulse Asia poll at 51%, followed by civil society organizations at 50%.

The Office of the Ombudsman ranked third at 39%, followed by the Senate at 37%, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. at 32%, and the House of Representatives at 25%.

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), established by President Marcos, Jr. last month to probe anomalous government projects, only earned a 23% trustworthiness rating. 

Only 7% of those surveyed believed that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) can be trusted to address government corruption in flood control projects.

The same Pulse Asia poll, however, revealed that 71% believes government officials found responsible for the anomalous flood control projects will be punished while 21% said cannot say if those liable will be punished or not.

Only 8% of the respondents said that perpetrators of the anomalous flood control projects will not be punished.

Less than majority of the respondents, on the other hand, view legislative inquiries as a mechanism to ferret out the truth and hold people accountable.

Only 45% viewed the Senate probe as an accountability and truth-telling measure, while the House investigation only scored 38% rating.

These scores are lower than the 46% of respondents who said that protest actions are effective means to ensure that those involved in corruption are held accountable.

The highest faith in protest action as a means to hold corrupt individuals accountable was recorded in Mindanao at 56%, followed by Metro Manila at 50% and Visayas at 50%. The lowest faith in protest action was posted in Luzon at 39%.

The Pulse Asia poll was conducted using face-to-face interviews and based on a sample of 1,200 adults aged 18 years old and above.

It has a ± 2.8% error margin at the 95% confidence level.

Subnational estimates for the geographic areas surveyed have the following error margins at 95% confidence level: ± 5.7% for Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. —KG/AOL, GMA Integrated News