Filipinos mainly cited anti-corruption efforts for trusting President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., while reasons for trusting Vice President Sara Duterte were divided, with her pro-poor stance and leadership among those cited, according to a Pulse Asia survey released on Wednesday, March 25.

The survey, conducted from Feb. 27 to March 2 through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults, found that among those who trust President Marcos, 28.6 percent mentioned his efforts to fight corruption as the main reason.

This was the top response in Metro Manila (37.1 percent), the rest of Luzon (29.4 percent), and Class D (30.3 percent).

In the Visayas and among Class E respondents, trust was nearly evenly split between anti-corruption efforts (23.7 to 26.3 percent) and improvements in Filipinos’ lives under his administration (30.2 to 31.6 percent).

In Mindanao, respondents most often pointed to improvements in quality of life (25.7 percent), assistance to calamity victims (18.3 percent), and financial aid or “ayuda” (18.3 percent).

Among Class ABC, the leading reasons were assistance to disaster victims (28 percent), anti-corruption efforts (21.9 percent), and support for agriculture (11.4 percent).

At the national level, other reasons cited by at least one in 10 of those who trust the President included assistance to calamity-hit areas (12.4 percent), improved living conditions (10.9 percent), and support for farmers (9.9 percent).

Each of the remaining reasons was mentioned by 4.9 percent or less.

Among those undecided on the President’s trustworthiness, 39.3 percent cited his failure to control rising prices of basic goods.

This view was highest in the rest of Luzon (51.8 percent), Mindanao (35.7 percent), and Class D (44.2 percent).

In Class E, respondents were divided between inflation (36 percent) and perceived lack of action on economic problems (30.7 percent).

In Metro Manila, the main reasons for indecision were the lack of arrests in the flood control projects scandal (23.2 percent), rising prices (19.5 percent), alleged illegal drug use (14.0 percent), and unfulfilled promises (12.1 percent).

In the Visayas, indecision was attributed to failure to lower prices (17.9 percent), lack of accountability in the flood control scandal (17.9 percent), unfulfilled promises (12.5 percent), failure to address illegal drugs (11.0 percent), economic problems (6.1 percent), reported illegal drug use (16.6 percent), and alleged corruption (9.1 percent).

Among Class ABC, the top reasons were failure to prosecute those behind the flood control projects scandal (25.8 percent), inability to solve national problems (17.4 percent), high prices (16.0 percent), unfulfilled promises (14.9 percent), and failure to address illegal drugs (12.4 percent).

Pulse Asia said 44 percent of Filipino adults distrust President Marcos, though reasons vary.

The most cited were failure to fight corruption (16.7 percent), unfulfilled promises (15.3 percent), poor performance (13.8 percent), inability to control prices (12.3 percent), and failure to curb criminality (10.1 percent).

Alleged involvement in corruption was mentioned by 12 percent.

Among Class ABC, 38.0 percent of those who distrust him attributed this to failure to fight corruption.

In Class E, distrust was linked to unfulfilled promises (25.1 percent), poor performance (20.6 percent), and failure to address illegal drugs (11.9 percent).

Among Class D, respondents cited unfulfilled promises (15.2 percent), inflation (13.8 percent), failure to fight corruption (13.7 percent), poor performance (12.9 percent), failure to address illegal drugs (10.5 percent), and alleged corruption (13.2 percent).

In Metro Manila, respondents mentioned alleged corruption (20.5 percent), poor performance (17.3 percent), failure to fight corruption (16.7 percent), unfulfilled promises (13.5 percent), and alleged illegal drug use (12.7 percent).

In the rest of Luzon, distrust was mainly due to failure to fight corruption (29 percent) and rising prices (26.4 percent).

In the Visayas, respondents cited lack of accountability in corruption cases (22 percent), alleged corruption (19.3 percent), failure to address illegal drugs (17.4 percent), and unfulfilled promises (15.3 percent).

In Mindanao, distrust was attributed to poor performance (21.4 percent), unfulfilled promises (20.8 percent), and failure to address illegal drugs (11.2 percent).

The majority of Filipino adults who trust Vice President Duterte (54 percent) are divided as regards the reason behind this sentiment.

The most mentioned were her perceived capability to govern (12.8 percent), pro-poor stance (12.7 percent), courage (12.4 percent), helpfulness (9.1 percent), strong convictions (9 percent), and quick response to calamities (7.9 percent).

Each of the remaining reasons was cited by 5.4 percent or less.

In Metro Manila, 26.4 percent cited her leadership capability as the main reason for trust.

In the rest of Luzon, respondents mentioned her pro-poor stance (18.7 percent), quick disaster response (13.6 percent), efforts against illegal drugs and corruption (10.2 to 14.2 percent), helpfulness (7.9 percent), and leadership capability (7.2 percent).

Among Visayans, respondents cited courage (18.6 percent), pro-poor stance (17.9 percent), leadership capability (12.5 percent), strong convictions (12.2 percent), and disaster response (10.7 percent).

In Mindanao, reasons included courage (13.9 percent), helpfulness (13.9 percent), leadership capability (12.7 percent), strong convictions (10.1 percent), being the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte (7.5 percent), pro-poor stance (6.5 percent), not being corrupt (5.3 percent), quick disaster response (3.7 percent), caring (2.2 percent), good plans for the country (4.8 percent), accomplishments (4 percent), and fulfilled promises (3.9 percent).

Among those undecided on Duterte’s trustworthiness, 51 percent cited her failure to address allegations of misuse of confidential funds in the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.

This view was consistent across regions (42.2 to 81.7 percent) and socioeconomic classes (48.6 to 63.6 percent).

Other reasons included lack of awareness of her accomplishments (17.8 percent) and refusal to face investigations (10.3 percent).

Each of the remaining reasons was cited by 5.5 percent or less.

Among those who distrust Duterte, 51.5 percent cited alleged involvement in corruption as the main reason.

Around 21.4 percent also mentioned threats she allegedly made against the administration and critics, while each of the remaining reasons was cited by 5.4 percent or less.

The nationwide survey was 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. Subnational estimates for Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao have a ±5.7 percent margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level.

Pulse Asia said it undertakes its “Ulat ng Bayan” surveys independently, without any party commissioning the research.