By Marcus Suner

Table from OCTAResearch

In the OCTA Research Group’s latest “Tugon ng Masa” survey released last Wednesday, 30 November 2022, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte both received an 86 percent approval rating nationwide.

Additionally, both received similar figures in terms of distrust at four percent, while 10 percent of respondents were undecided.

Included in the survey as well were Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Speaker of the House of Representatives Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, and Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo.

According to OCTA Research fellow Prof. Ranjit Rye in an interview with GMA News, net ratings “of over 70 percent are classified as excellent.”

Marcos scored the highest among Mindanaoans, achieving a 92 percent trust rating and only a three percent distrust rating. 

Meanwhile, Duterte achieved a 98 percent approval rating in Mindanao with a zero percent distrust rating.

On the other hand, Marcos fared worst in NCR at 82 percent, while Duterte got her lowest rating in Balance Luzon (BL) — the areas of Luzon without Metro Manila — at 81 percent.

The survey also revealed that respondents from the lowest socioeconomic groups, Class D and E, were more in support of Marcos and Duterte compared to their wealthier counterparts in Class A, B, and C.

With a sample size of 1200 interviewees across the Philippines, the trust ratings of top government officials were ranked with a margin of error of ±3 percent, and were based on interviews conducted on October 23-27, 2022. 

After the announcement of these results on numerous social media platforms by various news outlets, many users have doubted the statistics, citing the “suspiciously high” approval and trust ratings and the small sample size for a nationwide statistic. 

One user even commented that “Kung matinong survey kayo, [dapat] at least 10,000 [respondents] at least.”

Some users have also dug through the partners of OCTA Research Group itself and replied to the post made by Manila Bulletin on Twitter, casting doubt on the survey due to Eero Brillantes’ involvement. 

He is currently the CEO of Blueprint Campaign Consultancy, and was a supporter of the Duterte-Cayetano tandem in the 2016 national elections as one of the brains behind the “Duterte-Cayetano Rondaserye Campaign” on the now-defunct Brillantes Campaigns website, his personal Facebook account, and the Facebook page “Brillantes Campaigns”.

Marcos personally commented on the numbers, saying it was “very encouraging”, and highlighted its importance as a gauge to whether or not the government is “moving in the right direction” and is “felt at every level of society.”

Thumbnail from the Manila Times