The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), along with Congress and other government line agencies, suffered drastic declines in approval and trust ratings as shown in the latest popularity survey by PUBLICUS Asia.
The Pahayag poll, conducted Sept. 23 to 30, indicated that the DPWH had the worst setback from 33 percent during the Second Quarter to a mere 12 percent in the Third Quarter, basically on account of the flood control projects scandal and questionable insertions in the General Appropriations Act.
The House of Representative came in second with approval rating down to 21 percent from the previous 31 percent, and people’s trust likewise plummeting to 11 percent from 21 percent as of Q3.
The Senate ranked third, with approval ratings falling from 32 percent to 28 percent, and trust losing by six percentage points from 22 percent to 16 percent.
PUBLiCUS clarified that the popularity losses by both chambers of the legislature stemmed from their participation in the budget process, specifically on the matters of assailed budget insertions and snowballing calls for greater transparency in national spending.
The survey also highlighted that even the Commission on Audit (COA) experienced one of the sharpest declines, with approval rating going down to 31 percent from 45 percent, and trust from 33 percent to 21 percent.
PUBLiCUS noted that the downtrend came amid public concerns about COA’s role in auditing substandard involving “ghost” flood control projects, as well as potential conflicts of interest involving Commissioner Mario Lipana whose wife’s construction firm reportedly secured juicy government contracts.
Similarly, the Department of Finance (DOF) saw its approval ratings decrease from 35 percent to 30 percent, and trust from 24 percent to 19 percent, reflecting public anxiety over rising government debt and concerns about fiscal transparency.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) also registered approval declines, from 32 percent to 26 percent, and trust, decreasing from 23 percent to 18 percent amid allegations of redundant allocations and questionable budget insertions in the proposed 2026 National Expenditure Program.
The survey covered 1,500 respondents, randomly selected from a panel of registered Filipino voters maintained by the Singapore office of PureSpectrum, a U.S.-based panel marketplace with a global presence.
PAHAYAG is a corporate social responsibility initiative of PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. that operates on a quarterly basis.
