President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s disapproval rating went down by three percentage points from 48% in the December 2025 poll to 45% in the latest Pulse Asia Research 1st Quarter Ulat ng Bayan survey released on Monday.
Mr. Marcos’ approval rating also improved by two percentage points, from 34% in December 2025 to 36% in the new survey.
The President’s distrust rating also declined to 44% in the new survey from 47% in December 2025.
His trust rating likewise rose to 35%, compared to 32% in December 2025, according to the survey.
Inflation and corruption have emerged as the most pressing national concerns for Filipinos, the survey said, with a majority expressing criticism of the administration’s efforts on these two issues.
Out of 1,200 adults polled by Pulse Asia from late February to early March, 59% said the national government should immediately address inflation.
Inflation was followed by graft and corruption in government and workers’ pay as the next most urgent concerns at 47% and 36%, respectively, the survey results showed.
In fourth place is a group of urgent national concerns that includes reducing poverty (21%), creating more jobs (21%), fighting the sale and use of illegal drugs (21%), and combating criminality (17%).
Helping farmers (14%), enforcing the rule of law (11%), addressing involuntary hunger (10%), protecting the environment (9%), and promoting peace (9%) were cited as other pressing concerns.
“The national administration scores its only majority approval rating for its work in protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (53%),” Pulse Asia noted.
“Small to big majorities are critical of its efforts to reduce poverty (53%), fight corruption in government (67%), deal with the problem of illegal drugs (68%), and control inflation (73%),” it added.
The poll, conducted from February 27 to March 2, used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 representative adults aged 18 and above. It has a ±2.8% margin of error at the 95% confidence level.
