By Arjay L. Balinbin

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte’s net satisfaction rating has rebounded to +58 in the fourth quarter from last September’s drop of +48, according to the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations.

Mr. Duterte’s +58 net satisfaction rating (with 71% of respondents satisfied minus 13% dissatisfied) shows a 10-point rise and one grade up from last September’s “good” +48, which restores him in the “very good” range of +50 to +69, if still below his average rating of +64 last year.

By area, Mr. Duterte’s net satisfaction rating stayed “excellent” with a 5-point increase to +80 in Mindanao, and rose to “very good” in the +50 range elsewhere.

Satisfaction with Mr. Duterte is also very good among all classes, leaping from +35 last September to +65 this December among the Class E, which has borne the brunt of his drug war, as his critics have noted.

POLL ON MARTIAL LAW

In the same survey, a significant percentage of Filipinos are against Martial Law in Mindanao and believe the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) can suppress the Abu Sayyaf and the ISIS-inspired Maute group even without extending it for another year.

The survey found that 62% agree with the statement, “Because the war in Marawi City is over, there is no need to extend Martial Law beyond its end date on December 31, 2017,” while 12% are undecided, and 26% disagree.

Meanwhile, 66% (12 points above the 54% in September 2017 survey) agree with the statement, “The Armed Forces of the Philippines or AFP can suppress the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf even without Martial Law,” 16% say they are undecided, and 18% disagree.

BY AREA

The survey also found that opposition to the Martial Law extension in Mindanao is highest in Metro Manila at 67%, followed by Balance Luzon at 63%, Mindanao at 62%, and Visayas at 55%, which means that majorities across demographics (ranging from 55% to 67%) oppose the extension of Martial Law in Mindanao beyond 2017.

As for the percentage of those who agree that “the AFP can suppress the Maute group and Abu Sayyaf even without Martial Law,” the figure increased by 16 points in Metro Manila, from 54% in September 2017 to 70% in December 2017, by 15 points in Balance Luzon, from 52% to 67%, by 8 points in the Visayas, from 58% to 66%, and by 9 points in Mindanao, from 52% to 61%, which means that across demographics, majorities (ranging from 55% to 72%) agree with the statement.

The noncommissioned survey, conducted Dec. 8-16, had face-to-face interviews with 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).

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