MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lost significant footing in Mindanao, after his trust rating dropped by 32 points in the region, based on the March survey of pollster Pulse Asia.

The percentage of people in Mindanao who trust him is now at 38%, down from the 70% he had in December 2023.

It is the first Pulse Asia survey conducted since (1) Marcos and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte engaged in a public word war by throwing drug-related accusations at each other, (2) since Duterte and his allies publicly opposed the charter change push by the current administration, and (3) since Duterte vaguely called for an independent Mindanao.

Marcos’ numbers also suffered across all key geographic areas, losing 21 percentage points in Metro Manila, 19 percentage points in the Visayas, and 5 percentage points in Luzon.

Marcos also did poorly among socioeconomic groupings, as his trust rating went down by 29 percentage points among Class E (poorest of the poor), 14 percentage points among Class D, and 8 points among Class ABC.

Because of this, his nationwide trust rating slid to 57% in March, from 73% in December, equivalent to a 16-percentage-point tumble.

Second biggest loser

The President’s cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, was not spared, after his trust rating slid from 40% in December to 31% in March. The drop was attributed to significant losses in the Visayas (20-percentage-point decrease) and Mindanao (18-percentage-point decrease).

Vice President Sara Duterte’s trust rating also went down nationally by 7 percentage points, from 78% to 71%, but she remains the country’s most trusted leader.

Unlike Marcos and Romualdez, Duterte’s trust score in Mindanao hardly moved, although her numbers suffered double-digit drops in Metro Manila (down by 16 percentage points) and the Visayas (down by 11 percentage points).

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri was the only top government official unscathed in the latest survey, after his trust rating increased by 2 percentage points. The biggest gain was recorded in Mindanao (an 11-percentage-point rise).

See the full results here:

– Rappler.com