The Manila Bulletin is among the most trusted media outlets of Filipinos, based on PUBLiCUS Asia Inc.'s independent and non-commissioned survey released on Tuesday, Aug. 3.

In the PUBLiCUS Asia's Pahayag-Quarter 2, Manila Bulletin placed 4th with a high trust rating of 45.40 percent.

The survey was conducted from July 13 to 19, 2021 with 1,500 respondents.

The respondents were particularly asked: "How would you rate the overall trustworthiness of the following over the past 12 months?"

CNN Philippines topped the list with a 59.80 percent high trust rating, followed by GMA7 with a 51.40 percent high trust rating, and Philippine Daily Inquirer with a 49.60 percent high trust rating.

Meanwhile, PUBLiCUS Asia noted that Rappler and ABS-CBN online garnered the "highest total low trust ratings" with 37.66 percent and 30.40 percent, respectively.

During the same survey period, PUBLiCUS Asia found that social media has been a dominant force in changing the Filipino culture and source of information for at least 10 years now.

"Social media has driven most conversations and interactions that led brands and even social issues into the mainstream with a single click of a button. And in those years, and most recently, news consumption is taken from social media at a 78.8 percent rating--as the most popular media-related activity among respondents. While reading news on print continues its decline," it said.

Facebook and YouTube remain the most widely and intensely used media platforms with near-universal usage rates and staggering average daily usage rates.

Significantly, most respondents identify spending over five hours on social media platforms and OTT or over-the-top daily--with Facebook, YouTube, and Netflix leading the way followed by Cable TV and Instagram.