By Tracy Cabrera
DESPITE overtures from President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. to go after those involved in the flood control mess and other infrastructure irregularities, public trust in government institutions has waned with survey rating remaining uneven towards the end of 2025
Based on studies by survey firm PUBLiCUS Asia, most agencies of the Marcos Jr. administration held steady but several key bodies—particularly the Senate and the House of Representatives—continue to post declining approval and trust ratings.
According to the Pahayag 2025 End-of-the-Year Survey conducted by PUBLiCUS, the nationwide survey showed that 20 of 33 government agencies recorded largely stable approval ratings but institutions closely associated with flood control, price management, transportation, corruption and economic governance registered notable quarter-on-quarter declines.
Approval and trust ratings fell for the Senate from 28 to 24 percent while the House of Representatives slid from 21 to 20 percent. Similar drops were recorded by the Department of Health (49 percent to 44 percent), Department of Trade and Industry (42 percent to 34 percent), Department of Transportation (42 percent to 37 percent), Department of Agrarian Reform (38 percent to 35 percent), Department of Finance (30 percent to 26 percent) and the Development, Economic and Development Planning agency (DEVDep), formerly NEDA (35 percent to 31 percent).
Amid the overall downturn, however, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) surprisingly emerged as the only agency to post a significant recovery in both approval and trust during the period. Public approval of the DPWH rose from 12 percent to 16 percent while trust ratings improved from 8 percent to 10 percent.
PUBLiCUS attributed the gains to increased public confidence in ongoing infrastructure and flood control programs under Secretary Vivencio ‘Vince’ Dizon.
The Commission on Audit (CoA) also posted improved figures with approval climbing from 31 to 35 percent, a development respondents linked to the agency’s visible auditing of government officials and institutions.
