The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) got the highest approval and trust ratings among all government agencies in the year-end Pahayag survey by Publicus Asia Inc.
TESDA had a 77 percent approval rating and a 61 percent trust rating, followed by the AFP with 72 percent approval rating and a 59 percent trust rating, the quarterly non-commissioned survey showed.
The approval rankings from third to 10th place were as follows: the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) at 69 percent; Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) at 68 percent; Commission on Higher Education (CHED) at 67 percent; the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) at 66 percent; the Department of Education and Department of Health both at 64 percent; the Civil Service Commission at 63 percent; and the Department of Foreign Affairs at 61 percent.
The Supreme Court (SC) witnessed substantial improvement, driven by increased support from various demographics. Similarly, the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) experienced broad-based approval gains across socio-demographic segments.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) exhibited overall approval increases, possibly influenced by a positive response to the recent appointment of Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel.
Conversely, the Senate experienced a decline, notably among high-income earners, non-Catholics, and government workers. The House of Representatives faces a more significant drop across all demographics, particularly in the Mindanao region, marking a departure from its stability over the past six quarters.
Noteworthy shifts in trust levels reveal BSP leading at 54 percent, followed closely by CHED, DepEd, and DOST at 53 percent.
Meanwhile, the PNP was the sole gainer in trust ratings, recovering from a drop in the previous quarter, and now standing at 38 percent. In stark contrast, both the Senate and the House of Representatives witnessed declines, with the House showing a more pronounced drop across demographics, notably in Mindanao, while the Senate’s decrease is mainly attributed to high-income earners, non-Catholics, and government workers.
Pahayag 2023 was conducted by Publicus Asia Inc. The survey period was from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4, and used purposive sampling composed of 1,500 respondents randomly drawn from the market research panel of over 200,000 Filipinos maintained by the Singapore office of PureSpectrum, a US-based panel marketplace with multinational presence. The sample was restricted to registered Filipino voters.
The same survey showed the administration’s approval rating surged by eight percentage points to 61 percent in the last quarter, driven by increased ratings in North-Central Luzon, South Luzon, and the Visayas.
President Marcos logged an approval rating of 59 percent during the last three months of the year.
The survey said among the issues affecting the performance of President Marcos’ administration was inflation, which was ranked as the most pressing concern at 44 percent.
The survey also analyzed the performance ratings of newly elected officials, with Senator Raffy Tulfo maintaining his position as the top performer with a 71 percent rating, followed by Vice President Sara Duterte at 60 percent.
“Vice President Duterte faced challenges related to the issue of confidential and intelligence funds for the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education,” the survey said.