A LITTLE over a year into office, President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s net satisfaction rating dropped 18 points in the third quarter this year from the average 60 to 65 points he had enjoyed since assuming the presidency in July last year.

The 3rd Quarter 2017 Social Weather Survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed Mr. Duterte at +48 as of September, from +66 last June, +63 last March, and an average +64 last year, when he succeeded Benigno S.C. Aquino III on June 30. Mr. Duterte’s current rating is classified by the SWS as “good,” from the previous “very good.”

In comparison, Mr. Duterte’s predecessor, Mr. Aquino, had an average net satisfaction of +62 in his first year in office in 2010, a rating that slipped to +51 in March the next year, went down further to +46 in June, but rose to +56 in September in his second year in office. Among Mr. Duterte’s predecessors, Messrs. Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos, and Joseph E. Estrada enjoyed “very good” ratings midway into their second year.

The noncommissioned survey was conducted Sept. 23-27 via face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide: 600 in Balance Luzon and 300 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao, with sampling error margins of ±2.5% for national percentages, ±4% for Balance Luzon, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

By area, Mr. Duterte’s net satisfaction had the sharpest decline in the Visayas, from excellent +73 to good +43; followed by Balance Luzon, where his net satisfaction dropped 22 points from very good +58 to good +36.

In the National Capital Region, Mr. Duterte’s net satisfaction dropped 19 points from very good +63 to good +44.

Net satisfaction in Mr. Duterte’s home region of Mindanao remained steady at excellent +76 from +75 last June.

(The survey’s terminology for net satisfaction and net trust 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.”)

By class, Mr. Duterte’s net satisfaction dropped 17 points in Class D from very good +66 last June to good +49 in September, and fell 32 points in class E, from very good +67 to good +35.

Among ABC, his rating remained steady at very good +57.

Trust in Mr. Duterte fell 15 points to very good +60 in September, from excellent +75 last June, which was close enough to what SWS had classified as his “record high of excellent +79 just days before his inauguration in June 30, 2016.”

Sought for comment, University of Santo Tomas political science professor Edmund S. Tayao said in a phone interview: “So, the 15% and 18% in decline in the overall satisfaction rating of the President already says that there’s a significant change in the public’s pulse and this can be attributed to a number of factors, among others.”

“There’s still the unresolved issue on extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and, of course, the excuses that the government has been giving to explain the still increasing incidents or cases of EJKs have become rather unacceptable as far as the public is concerned, especially with the incidents or cases involving minors,” Mr. Tayao also said.

Mr. Tayao also cited economic factors:

“As far as the public is concerned, almost every week, gasoline prices have been increasing. Ngayong week lang yata napalitan na bababa ng konti ’yung gasoline prices. (I think it’s only this week that there’s a slight reduction in gasoline prices.) If I’m not mistaken, it has already increased by as much as P5 per liter since it’s started going up.”

“Now, this is, of course, a reflection of the economic situation in the country right now and clearly there’s a need for the government to recalibrate its strategies.”

Malacañang was also sought for comment, but there was no response as of this reporting. — Rosemarie A. Zamora

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