Pulso ng Pilipino
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NEWS RELEASE
Marcos Gov’t ratings crash
amidst political turmoil
PULSO NG PILIPINO ---- Despite claims of normalcy, the turbulent conditions precipitated by the ongoing political bedlam involving the country’s top two officials, the environmental issues that impacted several urban areas that were inundated by recent typhoons, reports of graft and corruption in high places, unending impasse at the West Philippine Sea, unchecked inflation, uncontrollable spike in prices of basic commodities and, unfulfilled election promises all combined to trigger a monstrous crash in both the performance and trust ratings of the top five officials of the country.
The massive drop in the way the Filipino public perceive the country’s top five
officials is reflected in the non-commissioned Fourth Quarter Pulso ng Pilipino survey
that was conducted by the Issues and Advocacy Center (The CENTER) on Nov. 5 to
Dec. 1, 2024. The survey covered some 1, 200 registered voters nationwide and
consisted of respondents in all the relevant social classes. The survey has a three
per cent margin of error and a confidence level of in excess of 98%.
The Pulso ng Pilipino survey showed the satisfaction ratings of the President
taking a monumental downward spin that also dragged Vice President Inday Sara
Duterte Carpio in the process as their ratings dropped to an all-time low of 33% and
32%, respectively, compared to their satisfaction rating of 46% and 52%, respectively,
that were recorded in the PnP second-quarter survey conducted last June 10 to
June 17, 2024.
In the same vein, the low performance rating posted by Marcos also pulled down
the ratings of Senate President Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero and House Speaker Ferdinand
Martin Romualdez to 37% and 20%, respectively. This was in stark contrast to the 53%
earned by the Senate during the PnP second quarter survey although parts of it were recorded when Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri was still at the helm of the Upper Chamber. Zubiri was replaced as Senate President by Escudero in May, 2024.
The performance rating of Speaker Romualdez that plunged to 20% in the fourth quarter in review from the 42% posted by the Lower House Chief in the second quarter was largely attributed to what the Pulso ng Pilipino described as the chaotic and disordered public hearings being conducted by the Lower House that the people see as a concerted effort to undermine and discredit the sitting Vice President of the land.
At the same time, the Filipino public or at least those who were surveyed by the
Pulso ng Pilipino have manifested their seeming distrust of the nation’s top officials
although the numbers have not yet reached alarming levels. In the same survey, the
trust ratings of Marcos and Duterte plunged to 37% and 36%, respectively. Similarly,
the trust ratings of Senate President Escudero hovered at 27% while that of Speaker
Romualdez was at 23%.
Historically, the legislature during the past administrations has always been in
the low end with regards to the satisfaction and trust rating and this is because of the
differences in the functions of the executive and legislative branches of government.
The House of Representatives in fact always received low satisfaction and trust
ratings in years past and there were even some periods in previous administration
when the Lower House received a negative rating. The same is true with the Senate,
especially now that the Senate appears to be in the same league as the Lower House.
The Pulso ng Pilipino also said that one of the major factors in the perceptible decline in public confidence is due to the apparent lack of efficiency and competence in governance in the way the top two officials of the country have been performing their functions. Most glaring of these slip-ups was when the President himself boasted about the completion of 5,500 flood control projects and Typhoon Carina slammed into the Philippines leaving 22 people dead and causing widespread flooding, landslides, power outages and 600,000 people displaced.
The failure of the President to stamp his oversight functions over the warring factions
within the government was seen by many as a sign of weak leadership particularly with
regards the verbal onslaughts unleashed by Vice President Duterte which has created an
image of a government in disarray.
Midway into his term, the people have yet to see the retail price of rice drop at P20.00
per kilo which was seen as the primary reason why Marcos was elected in the first place.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Philippines is a rice-producing country, yet rice production
in the country falls short of the consumption level and the country continues to import rice
and this is where corruption seeps in.
The low performance and trust ratings accorded the government is compounded by
what the Pulso ng Pilipino regard as a government being run through rhetoric made even
worst by the many issues and controversies surrounding the presidency particularly with
regards to the alleged high incidence of graft and corruption and the persistent rumors
alleging the use of illegal substances by prominent personalities close to the president.
Ed Malay, director of The CENTER said the norm used in the Pulso ng Pilipino survey is the widely used standard MSAP or the multi-stage area probability sampling method. A skip interval of five to seven houses in between calls in thickly populated villages was also followed to obviate any bias in the responses.
Selective interviews were conducted considering the demographic requirements such as gender, age and socio eco classification as the main considerations. To ensure the accuracy of the sampling results, calls were checked back at random by the team leader and a unique layered system of review that The CENTER has devised and proven accurate since it was used during the 1992 presidential campaign of the late President Fidel V. Ramos.
Pre-poll surveys were still on its infantile stage in those years, but it became an important component of the Ramos presidential campaign with Crystal Research headed by Col. Simeon Ventura doing most of the political poll research for FVR who ran and was eventually elected as the 12th President of the Philippines. FVR depended largely on what the surveys show which dictated the tempo of his campaign.
The FVR presidential campaign in 1992 also gave birth to The CENTER and was made part of the Ramos Media Bureau that also provided some inputs that tracked the progress of the Ramos presidential campaign. In addition, the FVR campaign also made use of research culled from the Social Weather Station which was also starting to create a mark in this field as well as the political survey research from the Ateneo de Manila University. # # #
PRESIDENT BONGBONG MARCOS
VICE PRESIDENT SARA DUTERTE
SPEAKER MARTIN ROMUALDEZ
Big dip in advertising revenues
seen as pols turn to social media
PULSO NG PILIPINO --- Many of the country’s advertising companies including the so-called tri-media sector will most likely experience a huge drop in advertising revenues as political candidates turn to the various social media platforms to promote their candidacies.
In the same survey the Pulso ng Pilipino conducted on Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, 2024, it showed that majority of the youth voters are active players and subscribers who regularly log on to the different social media sites particularly Facebook and TikTok. Many of the political candidates also switched to using social media as their main media vehicles in promoting their candidacies.
In addition to touching base with the youths who are practically glued to social media on a daily basis, many of the political candidates are trying to touch base with vloggers particularly those with a fan base running into thousands of subscribers and viewership reaching more than 50,000 to 100,000 views.
Some enterprising candidates with money to throw have also employed their own trolls and vloggers which in the scheme of things come out cheaper than if candidates were to place their political advertisements in the mainstream tri-media sector.
The Pulso ng Pilipino survey showed that 95% of those surveyed are familiar with the various forms of social media platforms such as Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) Instagram, TikTok, YouTube among others. Only 5% said they have no knowledge what social media is about.
Of the 95% professing knowledge of what social media is, 24% have Facebook accounts, only 9% are active on Instagram, 17% are on Twitter, 31% have active TikTok accounts and 19% have YouTube accounts. Of these, some 87% log on to these sites one at a time and 13% said they browse these sites simultaneously or all at the same time, meaning they move from one site to the other.
When the respondents were asked how often they visit these sites, 45% said they log on to Facebook almost on a daily basis, 19% on Instagram, 10% on Twitter, 58% said they log on to TikTok on a daily basis and 40% on YouTube.
These figures will explain why there is a sudden upward tick in the frequency of political statements and promotional news releases on these social media sites coming from political candidates running in the 2025 elections.
When asked if the respondents believe everything they see and watched on these soc-med platforms, some 38% said they tend to believe the veracity of what they see and watch, 18% said they do not believe them, 31% said they gave these political posts the benefit of the doubt and 13% said they were not interested or just ignored these posts.
Interestingly, some 54% of those surveyed said they spend at least two hours or more when they are logged on to any of these social media sites, 34% said they stay logged on for at least three hours or more while 12% said they spend one hour a day when using any of these sites.
The Pulso ng Pilipino said that with this development we can expect a dramatic switch in the way the 2025 political campaign will be pursued. The advantage of using soc-med platforms over the placement of advertising spots on mainstream media is that candidates even have the option to launch their own vlog and or channel as the case may be at a cheaper cost and reaching the same target audiences. # # #
Erwin Tulfo, Tito Sotto, Ping Lacson, Ben Tulfo, Bong Go, Pia Cayetano take first six slots in latest PnP pre-poll survey; Positioning likely to change when the official campaign period begin in February 2025;
PULSO NG PILIPINO --- Broadcaster and Party List Rep. Erwin TULFO manages to hold onto a slim 5.5 per cent lead over his closest pursuer former Sen. Vicente ‘Tito’ SOTTO III in the fourth quarter Pulso ng Pilipino (PnP) pre-poll survey conducted on Nov. 5 to Dec. 1, 2024 by the Issues and Advocacy Center (The CENTER).
The non-commissioned PnP survey results show TULFO posting 58% with the bulk of his preferences coming from the NCR where the ACT-CIS Party List enjoys tremendous following on account of its public affairs program that airs daily on the YouTube social media and online video sharing platform.
A close second is former Senate President Vicente Sotto III with 53.5% and who is slated to set a record-setting fifth term as Senator if and when he gets elected on May 12, 2025. Sotto has already set a record of sorts in the last 18th Congress when he completed his fourth term as Senate President. Before him, there were only two Senators who have completed and served for four terms. They were former Senate President Franklin Drilon and the late Sen. Lorenzo Tanada.
In third position is former Sen. Panfilo ‘Ping’ LACSON with 51.75%. While this latest position of Lacson may come as a surprise to some, the PnP survey showed that the public’s preferences for Lacson rose amidst the current chaotic political backdrop that creates an impression of political unpredictability. “It is natural for the people to look for an anchor that could provide stability in the event the differences among the country’s top officials remain unresolved,” The CENTER said.
Another Tulfo – Ben TULFO of BITAG fame is in fourth position with 46.75%. Notwithstanding the huge popularity of the BITAG public affairs TV program, the possibility of two other Tulfos joining the incumbent Sen. Raffy Tulfo has been sending some tongues wagging. Indeed, this will be the only time in the political history of this country when three siblings will be serving in the Senate at the same time.
Reelectionist Sen. Christopher Lawrence ‘BONG GO’ Go is in fifth place with 46.5% coming mostly from those who may have benefited from the Malasakit Program that was founded by the Senator from Davao City which has successfully created a one-stop center for medical and financial assistance provided by various social welfare agencies of the Philippine government.
Rounding up the top six slots is another reelectionist Senator Pilar Juliana ‘PIA’ CAYETANO who is in sixth position with 44.75%. CAYETANO is only one of five incumbent senators who are lawyers out of the 24 senators. The other Senators who are lawyers are: Senate President Chiz ESCUDERO, Senate Majority Floor Leader Francis TOLENTINO, Sen. Koko PIMENTEL, Sen. Alan Peter CAYETANO and elder sister Sen. Pia CAYETANO.
The PnP non-commissioned survey used the standard multi-stage area probability sampling methodology of MSAP in conducting the face-to-face survey in which the respondents were asked: “If the May 12, 2025 senatorial elections will be held today, who among the candidates in the list will you vote for?” The respondents were presented with a “show card” containing the names of the senatorial candidates and were asked to choose 12 from the list. The PnP survey has a margin of error of 3% and a confidence level of in excess of 98%.
The second half of the Magic 12 consist of former Sen. Emmanuel ‘MANNY’ PACQUIAO who is in seventh position with 44%. Sen. Ramon Bautista ‘BONG REVILLA’ is in eighth place with 43.5% and in ninth position is another reelectionist Sen. Francis ‘TOL’ TOLENTINO with 43%. Tolentino is known as the staunch defender of The Hague arbitration that ruled in favor of the Philippines in its dispute with China over the strategic islands in the West Philippine Sea.
TOLENTINO is also regarded as the founder and father of the ROTC Games that bring together all the colleges and universities that has the ROTC in their curriculum. The ROTC Games was conceptualized by TOLENTINO as a program designed to instill a deep sense of nationalism through sports. The games were organized some two years ago and were staged in the major regional centers in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Gradually moving up to 10th place is Las Pinas Rep. Camille VILLAR with 38%. The youthful representative from the city that is home to the world famous Bamboo Organ is being groomed to replace the term ended Sen. Cynthia VILLAR who will slide down and run for the lone congressional seat in the city.
Sen. Maria Imelda ‘IMEE’ MARCOS is in 11th place with 37%. The PnP believes that the candidacy of Senator MARCOS who previously served for two terms as the 2nd district representative of Ilocos Norte and three terms as Provincial Governor is being unduly affected by the negative publicity surrounding her younger brother President Bongbong MARCOS.
Completing the Magic 12 is Sen. Ronald ‘BATO’ DELA ROSA with 36%. Senator DELA ROSA served as the Philippine National Police Director General during the tenure of former President Rodrigo Roa DUT ERTE. DELAROSA ran in the 2019 senatorial elections following his mandatory retirement from the PNP.
Other candidates whom the PnP sees as having an statistical change of getting into the winning circle are: Former Interior Secretary Benhur ABALOS with 33.5% and is in 13th place. Doc Willie ONG who is recovering from Stage 4 cancer is in 14th place with 33%. Doc WILLIE could have performed better in the PnP survey but his senatorial bid suffered from the negative publicity related to the online sale of sexual enhancement products. Granting for the sake of argument that the use of his name was unauthorized yet there was no attempt to stop the same.
Makati Mayor Abby BINAY is in 15th position with 32%. Ms. BINAY is seeking to replace the term ended Sen. Nancy BINAY who in turn will run for Mayor of the country’s premier financial center. Incidentally Sen. BINAY will be running for Makati Mayor against her brother-in-law Rep. Luis Jose Angel CAMPOS JR. This upcoming mayoralty contest has created another division in the Binay Family. How this family feud will plays out remains to be seen.
In 16th place is former Sen. Kiko PANGILINAN with 30% and he is closely followed by reelectionist Sen. Manuel ‘LITO’ LAPID with 29% in a tie with former Sen. Greg HONASAN who is at 17th and 18th places, respectively. Variety TV host Willie ‘KUYA WILL’ REVILLAME is in 18th place with 25%, Party List Rep. Rodante ‘MARCOLETA” is in 19th place with 23% and former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis ‘CHAVIT’ SINGSON is at 20th place with 22.75%.
The next four slots belong to retired Marine Col. Ariel P. QUERUBIN who is in 21st position with 20.75%. QUERUBIN is a recipient of the Medal of Valor which is the highest military medal given to uniformed men who has shown exemplary courage and boldness in the line of fire. In 22nd place is actor Philip SALVADOR with 19%. In 23rd position is former Sen. Bam AQUINO with 18% and in 24th position is Rep. Eric Morales MARTINEZ with 14.75% # # #
ERWIN TULFO TITO SOTTO PING LACSON BEN TULFO BONG GO PIA CAYTEANO
