MANILA, Philippines — Public satisfaction with the Marcos administration dropped anew in the third quarter survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS).
After recovering to 42 percent in June, the proportion of respondents satisfied with the general performance of the national government again dropped to 38 percent in the poll conducted from Sept. 21 to 27.
Those who were dissatisfied increased from 40 percent to 42 percent, while undecided respondents hardly moved from 17 percent to 18 percent.
This resulted in a net satisfaction rating of “neutral” -4, down from +1 in the June poll.
It was the second lowest for the Marcos administration, after the “poor” -13 it obtained in March 2026.
At the time, 32 percent said they were satisfied and 46 percent said they were dissatisfied with the national government.
The net satisfaction rating is the rounded-off difference between those who said they were satisfied and dissatisfied with the performance of the administration.
SWS classifies net ratings of at least +70 as “excellent”; +50 to +69 as “very good”; +30 to +49 as “good”; +10 to +29 as “moderate”; +9 to -9 as “neutral”; -10 to -29 as “poor”; -30 to -49 as “bad”; -50 to -69 as “very bad”; and -70 and below as “execrable.”
Based on the latest poll, net satisfaction with the government was lowest among those in Metro Manila (-21), followed by those in Mindanao (-17), the Visayas (-2) and the rest of Luzon (+7).
It was also lower among younger demographics and those with college education.
The survey found that the Marcos administration obtained negative net satisfaction ratings in five issues.
It was lowest in terms of fighting inflation (-34), followed by eradicating graft and corruption (-3), fighting crimes (-25), ensuring that oil companies do not take advantage of oil prices (-25) and generating solutions for rising oil prices (-21).
Four issues had “neutral” net satisfaction ratings: preparing for climate change (+2), taking care of Filipinos in war-affected countries (+3), being prepared for strong typhoons (+5) and ensuring that no family will ever go hungry (+6).
Those with “moderate” net ratings include defending Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea (+18), ensuring efficient public transportation (+23) and ensuring food security (+27).
The Marcos administration had “good” and “very good” ratings in terms of developing science and technology (+30), helping disaster victims (+36), creating policies that generate job opportunities (+40), implementing housing programs (+40), helping the poor (+42), improving the quality of education (+5) and providing basic education in public elementary and high schools (+61).
The survey had 1,500 respondents and a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points for national estimates.