Filipinos trust Marcos due to his anti-corruption efforts, Pulse survey shows

A Pulse Asia survey on Wednesday showed that the main reason for Filipinos' trust in President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. was his fight against corruption.

The survey indicated that Filipinos trust Marcos due to his efforts to fight corruption in the government (28.6%). This was the top reason cited by respondents from Metro Manila (37.1%), those in the rest of Luzon (29.4%), and those belonging to Class D (30.3%). 

Meanwhile, almost the same percentages of Visayans and those in Class E trusted him either because of his fight against corruption (23.7% to 26.3%) or due to the improvements in Filipinos' lives resulting from his administration’s programs (30.2% to 31.6%).

Among Mindanao residents, the most often cited reasons were the improvements in the Filipinos’ quality of life that they credit to Marcos' programs (25.7%), his initiatives to help those affected by calamities (18.3%), and his efforts to give financial assistance, or ayuda, to those in need (18.3%). 

The survey also showed that as for those in Class ABC, their top reasons were because the President helps disaster victims (28.0%), he fights corruption (21.9%), and he extends assistance to the agricultural sector (11.4%).

The other reasons for trusting the President were his measures in helping calamity-hit areas and victims (12.4%), his administration’s programs succeeding in improving the lives of Filipinos (10.9%), and his efforts to help farmers (9.9%). 

Further, other reasons are given by at most 4.9% of those who trust the latter.

Meanwhile, those who cannot say if they trust or distrust the President (39.3%) attribute their indecision to Marcos' inability to control the rising price of basic commodities. 

The survey fieldwork was conducted from February 27 to March 2, 2026 using face-to-face interviews. 

This nationwide survey is based on a sample of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above. It has a ± 2.8% error margin at the 95% confidence level.

For Vice President Sara Duterte, the majority of Filipino adults who trust her (54%) were 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%). 

Other reasons were cited by at most 5.4% of those trusting the Vice President. —VAL, GMA Integrated News