MANILA, Philippines – As lawmakers scrutinized Vice President Sara Duterte’s proposed 2025 budget, trust in Duterte took a dip with a 10-point decrease from June, a new Pulse Asia survey found.
From 71% of Filipinos trusting Duterte in June, her score dropped by 10-percentage points to 61% in September.
The Office of the Vice President’s 2025 budget briefings, which she either snubbed or displayed controversial behavior at, happened before and during the survey period of September 6 to 13.
The Commission on Audit disallowed P73 million in confidential funds in her 2022 budget by end-August. The House finance committee also slashed Duterte’s budget by P1.3 billion on September 12.
Despite the huge drop, Duterte still enjoys the highest trust rating among the top four government officials. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Uniteam’s standard-bearer in the 2022 elections with whom Duterte is now estranged, also suffered a slight trustworthiness dip from 52% in June to 50% in September.
For the Vice President, whose home turf is in Davao City, her biggest decline in trust was in the National Capital Region where it fell 29 points followed by Luzon (9 points). Marcos’ biggest drop was in Mindanao at 14 points.
Of the top four, Senate President Chiz Escudero suffered the largest trust rating drop at 13 points. From 69% of Filipinos trusting him, only 56% said the same in September.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin, once more had the lowest trust rating among the top four. His 35% trust rating in June dropped to 31% in September.
The figures were similar when it came to approval ratings. Duterte suffered a similar nine-point drop from 69% approval in June to 60% in September. Marcos, meanwhile, had half of Filipinos approving of him at 50%, coming from 53% in June.
Romualdez’ approval rating dropped from 35% to 32%, and Escudero received his first approval rating score on Pulse Asia at 60%. The Senate elected him president in May.
Apart from the Vice President’s budget hearings coinciding with the survey period, other notable news events before and during the survey period include the following:
- The arrest of fugitive pastor Apollo Quiboloy, a close ally of the Dutertes
- Hearings of the Senate and House of Representatives on the links of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo and Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs)
- The House investigation into POGOs, extra-judicial killings, illegal drugs, and Chinese syndicates
- Continued tensions in the West Philippine Sea
- Increasing cases of mpox
- Public backlash over the National Economic and Development Authority’s food poverty threshold
- The Philippine Statistics Authority’s release of data showing a decline in headline inflation from 4.4% in July to 3.3% in August
– Rappler.com