Pulse Asia survey: Sara Duterte retains majority approval and trust

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte enjoys the approval and trust of a slim majority of Filipinos, while nearly half of respondents disapprove of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s performance and express distrust in him, according to Pulse Asia Research’s September 2026 Ulat ng Bayan survey.

The survey was conducted from Sept. 17 to 24 through face-to-face interviews with 2,400 representative adults aged 18 and above. It has a margin of error of ±2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

READ: Sara Duterte tops September survey of 2028 presidential picks

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The survey found that 54 percent of respondents approved of Duterte’s performance, while 55 percent said they trusted her.

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Marcos, on the other hand, received a 30 percent approval rating and a 29 percent trust rating.

Forty-nine percent of respondents disapproved of Marcos’ performance, while 48 percent expressed distrust in him.

Distrust in the President was recorded among pluralities to majorities of respondents in Metro Manila (45 percent), the Visayas (60 percent), Mindanao (66 percent), socioeconomic Class D (48 percent), and Class E (55 percent).

In the rest of Luzon, Marcos posted a 43 percent trust rating against a 35 percent distrust rating. Among respondents in Class ABC, 33 percent expressed trust in him, while 41 percent said they distrusted him.

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Meanwhile, majorities of respondents in the Visayas (57 percent) and Mindanao (94 percent), as well as across socioeconomic classes (53 percent to 69 percent), expressed trust in the Vice President.

Pulse Asia said the approval ratings of Marcos and Duterte remained virtually unchanged from July to September 2026 across geographic subgroups.

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Over the same period, Marcos recorded declines in distrust in Mindanao (-11 percentage points) and Class ABC (-16 percentage points).

However, ambivalence toward his trustworthiness became more pronounced among respondents in Mindanao, with the proportion expressing neither trust nor distrust increasing by 11 percentage points.

For Duterte, the only significant change in her trustworthiness ratings was a five-percentage-point decline in trust among respondents in Class D.