A significant plurality of Filipino adults (48%) considers controlling the rising prices of basic goods and services to be the top national concern, followed by fighting corruption in the government (31%) as a notable new entrant to the top five national concerns for the first time in OCTA’s survey series.
In the latest Tugon ng Masa (TNM) survey, results showed that the call to fight corruption is more pronounced in the NCR (51%), followed by Balance Luzon (34%), Visayas (23%), while Mindanao (18%) registers the lowest level of concern.
The OCTA Research group indicated that this sharper rise in concerns about corruption reflects a growing public demand for integrity and accountability in government, as Filipinos increasingly shift their focus from purely economic issues to matters of governance.
Public concern over government corruption surged this quarter, climbing 18 percentage points from 13% in July 2025 to 31% in September 2025. This marks the highest level of concern recorded and represents the first time corruption has entered the top five national issues.
This sudden increase in concern about corruption has surpassed concerns over improving or increasing wages, which stood at 27% and had consistently ranked among the top three urgent national issues since March 2024.
OCTA noted the shift in public priorities—from primarily economic anxieties to governance and accountability concerns.
The survey also showed that other major national issues include access to affordable food such as rice, vegetables, and meat (31%), improving wages or salaries of workers (27%), and reducing poverty (23%).
However, concern over job creation, which was previously among the top five national concerns in July 2025, has noticeably declined this quarter, suggesting that fewer Filipinos now view it as an urgent issue compared to the previous quarter.
The face-to-face survey was conducted from September 25 to 30, with 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above.
