President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte received high approval and trust ratings in March, according to a Pulse Asia survey released Wednesday.

Based on the “Ulat ng Bayan” survey conducted from March 15 to 19, Marcos got approval and trust ratings of 78 percent and 80 percent, respectively.

Duterte scored an 83 percent approval rating and an 85 percent trust rating.

The pollster highlighted that presidential and vice presidential ratings were “virtually unchanged” between November 2022 and March 2023.

It further noted that majority approval scores are enjoyed by Marcos and Duterte in all geographical areas and socio-economic groupings.

In terms of trustworthiness, Marcos and Duterte are the only top national officials who received majority trust scores from the Filipino public.

The Pulse Asia poll also found that the Marcos administration posted “small to huge majority approval ratings” on 7 of the 12 issues assessed in the nationwide survey.

The Marcos administration acquired a 76 percent rating for responding to the needs of calamity-hit areas.

The survey showed that 75 percent of respondents appreciated the Marcos administration’s efforts in protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers.

In terms of fighting criminality and promoting peace, the Marcos administration got a 68 percent rating and a 64 percent rating, respectively.

The Marcos administration received a 61 percent rating for defending national territorial integrity, 60 percent rating for protecting the environment, and 54 percent rating for enforcing the rule of law.

In the same poll, the top leaders of both chambers of Congress — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Romualdez also enjoyed the same majority approval score of 51 percent.

Meanwhile, in the case of Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, the same percentage of Filipino adults either approve of his quarterly performance (43 percent) or are ambivalent on the matter (41 percent).

For the trust ratings, Zubiri recorded a 48 percent score, Romualdez at 44 percent, and Gesmundo at 39 percent.

The survey fieldwork was conducted from March 15 to 19 using face-to-face interviews.

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

Photo credit: Facebook/MayorIndaySaraDuterteOfficial