By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s trust rating fell to a one-year low in April, according to the latest OCTA Research poll released on Tuesday, a month after his government sent his predecessor Rodrigo R. Duterte on a plane to The Hague to be tried for alleged crimes against humanity.
His trust rating fell five points to 60% from December 2024, OCTA said in a statement on Tuesday. On the other hand, Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s trust rating rose nine points to 58%.
“This marks the lowest trust rating for President Marcos since the first quarter of 2024, [but] it is important to note that despite the decline most adult Filipinos still express trust in [him],” OCTA said.
About 23% said they distrusted the President, while 18% were undecided. Ms. Duterte had a lower distrust rating of 19%, with 22% undecided.
Mr. Marcos’s performance rating also plunged to 59% from 64%. About 20% of Filipinos said they were dissatisfied with his performance, while 20% were undecided.
Ms. Duterte’s performance rating rose eight points to 56%, with 20% saying they were unsatisfied and 23% undecided.
“People are beginning to understand what we have been trying to do for the past two and a half, almost three years,” Mr. Marcos told reporters in Silang, Cavite when asked about his ratings. “So, it continues to inspire me because it shows that we’re making progress.”
Mr. Duterte, father of the Vice-President and a maverick ex-mayor and former prosecutor who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, was flown to The Hague on March 11, hours after his arrest in Manila.
This marked the biggest step yet in the International Criminal Court’s probe into alleged crimes against humanity during an anti-drug crackdown that killed thousands and drew condemnation around the world.
Mr. Marcos had said his predecessor’s arrest was not personal, adding that his government was just doing its job.
The arrest of Mr. Duterte further exposed deep fractures within the once-powerful UniTeam alliance that propelled Mr. Marcos and Ms. Duterte to a landslide victory in 2022.
Hansley A. Juliano, a political science lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University, said the decline of Mr. Marcos’s ratings suggest his rule “may not be as strong as they hoped it would be.”
“Especially considering the administration’s reputation for muddling through policy is beginning to give its opponents ammunition even if they are not entirely tasteful themselves, especially the Dutertes,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “If it’s beginning to alienate its own base, and the Dutertes continue to build their influence, it is in trouble.”
Mr. Juliano said the President’s falling ratings could affect the chances of his senatorial ticket on May 12 “only if antipathy with Marcos translates to support for the Dutertes, and by extension, their respective bets.”
Senate President Francis Joseph “Chiz” G. Escudero had a 55% trust rating and a 53% performance score.
Speaker and presidential cousin Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez posted 54% trust and 55% performance scores, Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo had the lowest marks among top officials, getting just 5% in both categories.
OCTA interviewed, 1,200 Filipino adults on April 2 to 5 for the survey, which had a ±3 percentage point error margin.
