With his State of the Nation Address (SONA) just three days away, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to face calls from Filipinos to address corruption, particularly the investigation and accountability of those involved in the flood control projects scandal, a Pulse Asia survey released on Friday, July 24 showed.

The fight against corruption was the top issue cited by 29.8 percent of Filipino adults when asked what they wanted Marcos to discuss or mention in his SONA on July 27.

Of this figure, 18.9 percent specifically cited efforts to investigate and hold accountable those involved in the flood control projects scandal, while 10.9 percent mentioned anti-corruption initiatives in general.

Affordable basic goods ranked second at 18.7 percent.

Other issues Filipinos want Marcos to discuss include jobs and livelihood opportunities (6.6 percent), poverty (6.2 percent), illegal drugs (5.5 percent), low wages (5.1 percent), high fuel prices (4.9 percent), agricultural issues (4 percent), criminality (2.8 percent), and the state of education (2 percent).

Some respondents also wanted the President to discuss the fulfillment of his promises (1.6 percent), the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte (1.2 percent), juvenile justice (1 percent), the Senate leadership issue (1 percent), and the welfare of senior citizens (1 percent).

The survey also showed that corruption was the leading issue in Metro Manila (35 percent), the rest of Luzon (32.7 percent), and Mindanao (29.7 percent).

It also topped the list among respondents from Class ABC at 42.1 percent and Class D at 29.6 percent.

However, in the Visayas, concern about affordable prices of basic commodities ranked first at 22.7 percent, followed by corruption at 19.3 percent.

Among those in Class E, affordable goods led at 23.8 percent, followed by poverty at 15.9 percent and corruption at 13.8 percent.

Meanwhile, 81 percent of Filipino adults said they were aware of at least one of the President’s previous SONAs delivered before Congress.

Pulse Asia said awareness levels were recorded across all geographic and socio-economic groupings, ranging from 70 percent to 90 percent geographically and 71 percent to 89 percent across socio-economic classes.

It added that the figure was statistically unchanged from the June 2025 “Ulat ng Bayan” survey.

The latest nationwide survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews among 2,400 adults aged 18 and above from June 28 to July 3 and 6.

It has a ±2 percentage point error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.

Pulse Asia said the survey was conducted independently, with no religious, political, economic, or partisan group influencing the research process and no single party commissioning the Ulat ng Bayan survey.