Filipinos' trust in Marcos, Duterte falls in September — SWS
Published Oct 15, 2025 02:13 pm
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)
A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Wednesday, Oct. 15, revealed a decline in public trust for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte in September.
The nationwide survey, conducted from Sept. 24 to 30 and commissioned by Stratbase Consultancy, interviewed 1,500 adults aged 18 and above through face-to-face interviews.
Among respondents aware of President Marcos, 43 percent said they trusted him much, 36 percent little, and 21 percent were undecided, resulting in a net trust rating of +7 ( percentage of those with much trust minus those with little trust).
Over the past year, the president’s net trust has fluctuated significantly.
It peaked at +42 in July 2024 (64 percent much trust, 21 percent little trust), fell into negative territory in March 2025 at -3 (37 percent much trust, 40 percent little trust) and April 2025 at -4 (36 percent much trust, 40 percent little trust), rebounded to +18 in June 2025 (48 percent much trust, 30 percent little trust), and stood at +7 in September.
For Vice President Duterte, 53 percent expressed much trust, 28 percent little, and 18 percent were undecided, giving her a net trust rating of +25.
While her trust levels have generally remained positive, they declined from +36 in June (61 percent much trust, 23 percent little trust) to +25 in September 2025.
The survey asked respondents to rate their trust in each personality using a six-point scale or indicate if they had never heard of them.
The exact phrasing of the question in Filipino was:
“Pag-usapan po natin ang tungkol sa ilang personalidad. Sa mga sumusunod, maaari po bang sabihin ninyo kung ang pagtitiwala ninyo kay (PERSONALITY) ay napakalaki, medyo malaki, hindi tiyak kung malaki o maliit, medyo maliit, napakaliit, o wala pa kayong narinig o nabasa kahit na kailan tungkol kay (PERSONALITY)?”
(Let’s now talk about some personalities. For the following, please indicate if your trust or faith in [PERSONALITY] is very much, somewhat much, undecided if much or little, somewhat little, very little, or you have not heard or read anything about [PERSONALITY] ever).