President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. saw a sharp decline in his approval and trust ratings, while Vice President Sara Duterte recorded the only gains among the country’s top officials, based on Pulse Asia’s “Ulat ng Bayan” survey conducted from March 23 to 29.

The survey revealed that 25 percent of Filipino adults approve of President Marcos’ performance, while 53 percent disapprove, and 22 percent remain undecided.

The President’s approval rating was down from 42 percent in February, a 17-point decrease in just one month.

His disapproval rating also rose by 21 percentage points over the same period.

In terms of trust, Pulse Asia said President Marcos’ rating plummeted from 42 percent in February to 25 percent in March.

Meanwhile, the percentage of Filipinos who distrust him rose from 32 percent to 54 percent.

In contrast, Vice President Duterte was the only official to see improvements in both approval and trust ratings, Pulse Asia said.

Her approval rating rose from 52 percent in February to 59 percent in March, while her disapproval rating dropped from 26 percent to 16 percent over the same period.

Vice President Duterte’s trust rating also improved, rising from 53 percent to 61 percent.

On the other hand, her distrust rating decreased from 26 percent to 16 percent.

Escudero, Romualdez ratings

During the same survey period, Senate President Francis Escudero experienced a decline in approval, with 39 percent of Filipinos expressing satisfaction with his performance in March, down from 47 percent in February.

Meanwhile, his disapproval rating increased by six percentage points, from 12 percent to 18 percent.

Escudero’s trust rating also dropped, from 47 percent in February to 38 percent in March, alongside a rise in distrust, from 14 percent to 20 percent.

Pulse Asia said Speaker Martin Romualdez remains the least approved among the top officials.

His approval rating stands at only 14 percent, down from 17 percent.

Meanwhile, 54 percent of respondents disapprove of his performance, a 14-point increase from 40 percent in February.

In addition, 31 percent of respondents were undecided about Romualdez’s performance.

In terms of trust, the Speaker’s also received the lowest rating among the officials surveyed, Pulse Asia said.

Fifty-seven percent of Filipinos expressed distrust in Romualdez, up from 42 percent in February, while his trust rating slipped from 18 percent to 14 percent.

Pulse Asia’s Ulat ng Bayan survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 2,400 adult Filipinos.

Respondents were selected through multi-stage probability sampling to ensure a representative cross-section of the population.