Filipinos' trust in government, other institutions declines

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos’ trust in the government slightly fell in the past two years, according to results of the new Philippine Trust Index that also showed lower overall public trust in major institutions.

But despite the small decline in trust for all Philippine institutions, majority of Filipinos still want to remain in the country.

Findings of the PTI, a propriety research by communications agency EON Group, revealed that the “moderate trust” in government sagged four percentage points to 76% in 2019 from 80% in 2017.

Broken down, most respondents said they “extremely” trust the Office of the President among state institutions. The rest experienced a decline in trust levels, with Office of the Vice President hit by the sharpest downturn of about 16 percentage points.

“The informed public is more trusting of the Office of the President, while the general public is more trusting of the Office of the Vice President,” the PTI report read in part.

Aside from the government, the PTI also focused on five other key institutions: the business sector, media, non-government organizations or NGOs, the church and the academe.

All five saw a decline in trust levels.

While traditional media forms remain as primary sources of information for most Filipinos, the PTI found that media’s “trust drivers” deteriorated since 2017, with respondents believing that news outlets are now more susceptible to bribery.

Overall, the media saw a decline to 69% from 78%.

On the business sector, which posted a lower trust rating of 71% from 75% in 2017, trust across industries dropped since 2017, with the mining sector being the least trusted.

Meanwhile, healthcare and food and beverage remain the most trusted industries in the Philippines.

The PTI also reported that trust in NGOs experienced the largest decline in the past two years to 37% from 59% as Filipinos continue to scrutinize this institution’s agenda.

NGOs scored “very low” with incorruptibility (50%) and being free from political interest (53%), PTI said.

For the church and the academe, both with a three percentage point drop to 90% from 93% keeps the trust level strong and highest among all institutions.

Despite the decline in trust for all institutions, the PTI showed that “majority of Filipinos still opt to remain in the country” with “86% among respondents that are amenable to leaving the Philippines would do so for work or business, 10% for pleasure, and only 3% for migration.”

“This equates to only 1% of total respondents intending to leave the country for good,” it said. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral