SWS: Duterte gov’t gets record-high +70
SATISFACTION WITH President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration reached a record-high “excellent” +70 in the fourth-quarter survey last year of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
According to the Fourth Quarter 2017 Social Weather Survey, 79% of adult Filipinos were satisfied with the administration’s performance and 9% were dissatisfied yielding the +70 that SWS ranked as “excellent.”
(The SWS terminology for net satisfaction ratings is as follows: +70 and above, “excellent”; +50 to +69, “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”; +9 to –9, “neutral”; –10 to –29, “poor”; –30 to –49, “bad”; –50 to –69, “very bad”; –70 and below, “execrable.”)
The excellent rating is a 12-point rise and one grade up from the “very good” +58 (71% satisfied, 13% dissatisfied) in September last year.
“This surpassed the previous record of very good +66 achieved in June 2013 (Noynoy Aquino administration), and in September 2016 and March 2017 (Duterte administration),” SWS noted.
The 12-point gain in net satisfaction was due to new record-high net satisfaction scores in Mindanao, the National Capital Region (NCR), and Balance Luzon, combined with a steady score in the Visayas.
NCR had the biggest leap in net satisfaction by 20 points, from +51 in September last year to +71 in December. Net satisfaction also jumped 15 points in Balance Luzon to +67, and 13 points in Mindanao to +87. It stayed very good in the Visayas at +57 in December, similar to the net rating in September.
By class, net satisfaction also leaped 20 points in Class E to +66 in December. Net satisfaction rose 11 points in class D (the masa) to a new record-high +71, and stayed very good in classes ABC at +62, two points higher than in September.
Double-digit increases in the National Administration’s net satisfaction rating occurred among men, among the 35-year-olds and above, and among non-elementary school graduates, elementary school graduates, and college graduates.
SWS also listed 18 performance subjects — collectively a “Governance Report Card” — by which the Duterte administration was rated.
The administration’s net rating was “very good” in fighting terrorism (+67); helping the poor (+66); building and maintenance of public works like roads and bridges (+59); providing jobs (+50); and foreign relations (+55) — a controversial area in the context of Mr. Duterte’s pivot toward China.
The administration was rated “good” in defending the country’s territorial rights (+46); reconciling with Muslim rebels (+48); telling the truth to the people (+47); protecting human rights (+45); reconciling with communist rebels (+43); fighting crimes (+43); eradicating graft and corruption (+42); ensuring an efficient public transportation system (+42); ensuring that no family will ever be hungry (+33); solving the problem of extrajudicial killings or EJK (+30); and ensuring that oil companies do not take advantage of oil prices (+30).
The administration was rated “moderate” in fighting inflation (+24) and resolving the traffic problem (+23).
The survey was conducted from Dec. 8-16, 2017, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao).
