OCTA: Marcos, Sara retain high performance, trust ratings

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte continued to enjoy high performance and trust ratings in the latest survey conducted by the OCTA Research group.

Public opinion of the top two highest officials remained “essentially constant” in OCTA’s Tugon ng Masa survey conducted from March 24 to 28, the polling firm said yesterday.

Based on the survey, 80 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with Marcos, slightly above the 78 percent obtained in a similar survey conducted in October 2022.

Those dissatisfied with his performance increased by a point from five to six percent, while those who were undecided dropped from 18 percent to 15 percent.

But trust with Marcos dipped by three points, from 86 percent to 83 percent, while those who distrusted him remained at four percent. Those who were undecided increased from 10 percent to 13 percent.

All changes in the President’s nationwide performance and trust ratings were within the survey’s +/- three percent margin of error.

Across geographic and socio-economic backgrounds, satisfaction with Marcos increased among those in Balance Luzon (from 74 percent to 80 percent), the Visayas (from 81 percent to 89 percent) and class ABC (from 67 percent to 84 percent), while it significantly dropped among respondents in Mindanao (from 85 percent to 77 percent).

Trust in the President dropped among respondents in Metro Manila (from 82 percent to 76 percent), Mindanao (from 92 percent to 83 percent) and class E, while it increased among class ABC (from 78 percent to 84 percent).

Sara slightly better

Like in other surveys, the performance and trust ratings of Duterte, who is also education secretary, is slightly higher than Marcos.

Those who said they were satisfied with her performance increased from 80 percent to 84 percent, while those dissatisfied stayed at four percent. Some 12 percent said they were undecided, down from 16 percent in the October 2022 survey.

Meanwhile, trust in the Vice President increased by a point, from 86 percent to 87 percent, while those who distrusted her dropped from four percent to three percent. Those who were undecided remained at 10 percent.

Broken down into geographic and socio-economic backgrounds of the respondents, satisfaction with the Vice President significantly increased among respondents in Balance Luzon (from 71 percent to 80 percent), the Visayas (from 83 percent to 90 percent) and class ABC (from 75 percent to 87 percent).

Trust in Duterte dropped five points among respondents in Metro Manila (from 83 percent to 78 percent), while it increased by five points in the Visayas (from 88 percent to 93 percent).

Other officials

The survey also found that those satisfied with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri stayed at 53 percent, with those dissatisfied dropping from 13 percent to nine percent. Those who were undecided increased from 34 percent to 38 percent.

Trust and distrust in the Senate President hardly moved, from 52 percent to 50 percent and from 10 percent to eight percent, respectively. Those who were undecided increased from 38 percent to 41 percent.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez, meanwhile enjoyed a 15-point increase in his performance rating, from 44 percent to 59 percent. Those who were dissatisfied with him dropped from 12 percent to eight percent, as well as undecideds, from 43 percent to 33 percent.

His trust rating also increased by 17 points, from 38 percent to 55 percent. Those who said they distrust him slightly increased from seven percent to 10 percent, while those who were undecided dropped from 55 percent to 35 percent.