Duterte becomes PH’s most trusted official

President Rodrigo Duterte. ( FILE Photo by Ace Morandante, contributor)

President Rodrigo Duterte is starting his term on a high note as the results of the latest Pulse Asia poll showed that nearly all Filipinos place their trust on him.

The results of the July 2 to 8 poll, which were released on Wednesday, showed that 91 percent of Filipinos trust the President.

The pollster noted that “practically no one” distrusts Duterte as he only got a “small/no trust” rating of 0.02 percent.

Meanwhile, only eight percent of the respondents said that they were undecided if they would trust the President.

“President Rodrigo R. Duterte begins his stint as the country’s 16th president with an overwhelming majority of his constituents expressing trust in him (91 percent) and practically no one distrusting him (0.2 percent). The rest of Filipinos (8 percent) cannot say if they trust or distrust President Duterte,” Pulse Asia said.

According to Pulse Asia data, former President Benigno Aquino III previously enjoyed the highest trust rating of any public official, starting his term in July 2010 with an 85 percent trust rating. Aquino then had only two percent of Filipinos distrusting him while 13 percent were unable to say if they trust or distrust him.

Duterte’s 91 percent rating is the highest trust grade achieved by any individual since Pulse Asia started its trust surveys in 1999.

Among geographical areas, Duterte got the highest trust rating in his bailiwick in Mindanao (97 percent), followed by the National Capital Region at 92 percent. He posted the same trust rating in Luzon and Visayas at 89 percent.

Across socioeconomic classes, Duterte posted the highest trust rating among those who belong in Classes D and E (92 percent), followed by Class ABC (89 percent).

A similar survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed Duterte getting an “excellent” net trust rating of +79.

READ: SWS: Duterte begins presidency with ‘excellent’ trust rating | Duterte gov’t encouraged by ‘excellent’ trust rating

The Pulse Asia survey had 1,200 adult respondents with a ± 3 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level. Subnational estimates for each of the geographic areas covered in the survey (i.e., Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) have a ± 6 percent error margin, also at 95 percent confidence level. IDL