Filipinos remain cautious about trusting businesses, with high prices and unclear charges emerging as the leading reasons for distrust, according to the 2026 Philippine Trust Study by the EON Group and Ateneo de Manila University.
The first Philippine Business Trust Index scored 72 out of 100, placing businesses in the Conditional Trust category, where confidence depends on continued proof of trustworthiness. None of the nine sectors examined reached the Robust Trust category nationally.
The study’s findings come amid pressure on household budgets, with headline inflation reaching 7.8% in October 2026, according to the study’s release materials.
Among respondents who identified their least-trusted sector, 19.7% cited prices that were too high or unreasonable, 14.7% pointed to unclear prices or fees, and 11.7% cited hidden charges or surprise fees.
By comparison, 18.6% cited good value for money as a reason for trusting their most-trusted sector, highlighting the importance of pricing transparency and perceived value.
“Filipinos should not have to keep absorbing the cost of poor value and unclear pricing. It is up to businesses to give people real reasons to choose them, and to keep choosing them,” EON Group President and COO Malyn Molina said.
Honesty emerged as the most important attribute of business trustworthiness, with 34.6% of respondents ranking it first among 16 attributes. It recorded a ranking score of 269.3 out of 500, ahead of product or service quality at 179.0 and competence at 131.5.
Social or interpersonal trust, genuine care and accountability and transparency followed, while symbolic reputation, or brand prestige and public image, ranked last with 24.5 points.
“The prominence of honesty in the findings is significant. It tells us that Filipinos place great importance on whether businesses can be trusted to deal with them truthfully,” Wilfred Luis Clamor of Ateneo’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology said.
He added that honesty is reinforced or undermined by product and service quality, consistency and how businesses treat people affected by their decisions.
FOOD, HEALTHCARE LEAD SECTOR SCORES
Food and Agriculture recorded the highest trust score at 75.6, followed by Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals at 75.4 and Commerce, E-Commerce and Retail at 75.0. The differences were too small to establish a meaningful ranking among the three.
Energy and Utilities scored 73.0, while Manufacturing and Financial Technology (FinTech) recorded 70.9 and 70.8, respectively.
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and Technology scored 68.6, matching Tourism and Travel. Real Estate and Construction recorded the lowest score at 67.7.
The study classified scores of 71 to 80 as Conditional Trust, 61 to 70 as Fragile Trust, 81 to 90 as Robust Trust, and 91 to 100 as Absolute Trust. Scores of 60 and below fall under Trust at Risk, with 70 identified as the stability threshold.
Researchers offered two possible explanations for the higher scores of food, healthcare and retail businesses: Filipinos’ frequent interactions with these sectors and their role in meeting essential needs. They noted that further research would be needed to test these interpretations.
FinTech’s score, meanwhile, reflects trust in an increasingly digital business environment, where confidence may also depend on transparency, security and consumer protection.
BUSINESS SIZE MAKES LITTLE DIFFERENCE
Large enterprises scored 72.3, compared with 71.7 for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), a difference of 0.6 points that falls within the study’s margin of error.
Large businesses scored higher in Healthcare, Manufacturing, FinTech and BPO and ICT, while MSMEs led in Energy and Utilities. The findings suggest company size alone does not determine public trust.
The study’s focus group discussions also found that consumers may continue patronizing businesses they distrust when alternatives are limited or switching providers is difficult. Researchers described this as “compelled patronage,” noting that sales may remain strong even as trust deteriorates.
The finding came from discussions involving eight consumers and was not intended to represent the wider population statistically.
Workers, meanwhile, cited transparency, being heard by management and fulfillment of company commitments as important trust factors. One worker described a company that promised benefits tied to a target but failed to communicate the results.
“For me, there is no trust if there is no transparency,” the worker said during a focus group discussion.
Participants also identified unannounced pay cuts and arbitrary termination as warning signs that could undermine workplace trust.
Business representatives described how companies with clean compliance records could receive regulatory green lanes, including license validity extensions from one year to three years. They also said trusted brands may be better positioned to retain customers even when prices increase.
These observations came from focus group participants and were not quantified outcomes measured by the survey.
NATIONWIDE SURVEY
The study was based on a nationally representative survey of 800 Filipino adults across 160 barangays in 84 cities and towns, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Fieldwork was conducted from May to August 2026 through face-to-face interviews.
Researchers also held focus group discussions with 82 participants in Metro Manila, Naga, Cebu and Davao, comprising regulators, business representatives, workers and consumers. They conducted 18 key informant interviews with business executives, including 10 from large enterprises and eight from MSMEs.
The study is descriptive and exploratory, reflecting reported perceptions rather than independently verified assessments of business conduct. Its findings describe trust at a particular point in time and do not establish cause and effect or changes over time.
EON began examining public trust in the Philippines in 2011 through the Philippine Trust Index, which evolved into the Philippine Trust Study in 2024. The 2026 edition introduced the first Philippine Business Trust Index, establishing a baseline for tracking trust across nine business sectors.
“Tiwala ang puhunan. That begins with katapatan: a business that keeps its promises and treats people the way it says it will,” Ms. Molina said.
“In a trust economy, businesses cannot afford to separate what they say from what they do,” she added. — Kaizzer Angela Marie V. Manuba
