SWS: Marcos admin’s net satisfaction down to – 4
The Marcos administration’s net satisfaction rating dropped by 5 points from +1 in June to -4 in September 2026, but this remained within the “neutral” range, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released Friday.
This was the second-lowest rating of President Marcos’ administration following its record-low “poor” rating in March 2026.
Conducted among 1,500 adults nationwide from Sept. 21 to 27, the Third Quarter 2026 Social Weather Survey found that 42 percent of adult Filipinos were dissatisfied with the administration’s general performance, while 38 percent were satisfied and 18 percent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
Based on the difference between the percentages of satisfied and dissatisfied respondents, the administration received a net satisfaction rating of -4, classified as “neutral.”
Compared with previous SWS surveys, the national administration’s net satisfaction ratings declined across all 19 performance subjects on which it was rated by respondents. Of these, two received a “very good” rating, five were rated “good,” three “moderate,” four “neutral,” three “poor,” and two “bad.”
The subjects “being prepared for strong typhoons” and “helping victims of disasters” were last surveyed in November 2025, while the remaining 17 subjects were last surveyed in June 2026.
The subject “providing the youth with basic education in public elementary and high schools” retained a “very good” rating, but with a 7-point decrease from +68 in June 2026 to +61. “Improving the quality of children’s education” also maintained a “very good” rating, but with an 8-point decrease from +58 to +50.
Other subjects fell from “very good” to “good,” such as “helping the poor” at +42, down 10 points from +52 in June; “creating policies which will generate job opportunities” at +40, down 11 points from +51; and “helping victims of disasters” at +36, down by 14 points from +50 in November 2025.
“Implementing housing programs for the poor” retained its “good” rating at +40, but down 8 points from +48 in June. “Developing science and technology” also remained “good,”but with a 19-point decrease from +49 to +30.
Three subjects that were previously rated “good” in June received a “moderate” rating in September: “ensuring food security” dropped 14 points to +27 from +41; “ensuring an efficient public transportation system” fell 10 points to +23 from +33; and “defending Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea” decreased 17 points to +18 from +35.
Net satisfaction for four subjects declined from “moderate” to “neutral”: “ensuring that no family will ever be hungry and have nothing to eat” at +6, down 20 points from +26; “being prepared for strong typhoons” at +5, down 23 points from +28 in November 2025; “taking care of Filipinos in Middle Eastern countries such as Israel, Iran, and other countries affected by war or armed conflict” at +3, down 12 points from +15 in June; and “preparing for problems being caused by climate change” at +2, down 22 points from +24.
Three other subjects shifted from “neutral” ratings in June to “poor” in September: “generating solutions for the rising oil prices” at -21, down by 21 points from net zero; “ensuring that oil companies do not take advantage of oil prices” at -25, down 19 points from -6; and “fighting crimes that victimize ordinary citizens, like killings, holdups, robberies, physical violence, etc.” at -25, down 17 points from -8.
Lastly, two subjects that previously had a “poor” rating in June received a “bad” rating in September: “eradicating graft and corruption in government” at -30, down by 16 points from -14; and “fighting inflation” at -34, down by 22 points from -12.
The SWS classifies +70 and above 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”; -70 and below as “execrable”.
The survey had a sampling error margin of plus-or-minus 3 percent for national percentages, plus-or-minus 4 percent for Luzon outside of Metro Manila, and plus-or-minus 6 percent each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
