Duterte gov’t rating falls but still ‘very good’

THREE OF FOUR Filipinos remained satisfied with the performance of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) poll.

In a statement, the polling firm said 77% of Filipinos were satisfied with the government’s performance, 11% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, while 10% were dissatisfied.

This yielded a “very good” net satisfaction rating of +67 (satisfied minus dissatisfied) for the third quarter, 6 points lower than in the previous quarter, SWS said in its Governance Report Card posted on its website on Wednesday night.

The presidential palace yesterday said the poll results showed that “a significant number of our countrymen possesses discernment that can stand and see beyond the endless politicking managed by the opposition.”

“The true measure of proper governance and public service is accomplishing the job entrusted to him by the electorate without expecting any reward for it,” Salvador S. Panelo, President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s spokesman, said in a statement.

Out of 16 performance subjects, the government was rated “Very Good” on 3 subjects, “Good” on 11, “Moderate” on 1 and “Neutral” on 1, according to the poll.

“The net satisfaction rating of the national administration was very good on helping the poor (+62), providing information needed by the citizens to properly examine what the government is doing (+54), and having clear policies (+53),” SWS said.

It was good in fighting terrorism (+49), developing the economy (+48), protecting press freedom (+47), acting according to what the people want (+44), fighting crimes (+43) and reconciliation with Muslim rebels (+40).

Filipinos also said the Duterte administration was good in foreign relations (+39), reconciliation with communist rebels (+38), eradicating graft and corruption (+32), recovering ill-gotten wealth of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos and his cronies (+30), and defending Philippine sovereignty in the South China Sea (+30), it said.

Meanwhile, it got a moderate rating on preventing hunger (+28) and a neutral score on fighting inflation (+5), SWS said.

The administration’s rating fell in seven subjects, improved in three and steadied in five, according to the poll. The government got an excellent rating in Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao, and a very good rating for the rest of Luzon.

SWS interviewed 1,800 adults on Sept. 27 to 30 for the poll, which had an error margin of ±2.3 points. — Charmaine A. Tadalan