Though down 8 points, Duterte keeps ‘very good’ rating

President Rodrigo Duterte’s net trust rating dropped to its lowest in the nine surveys taken since he took office in June 2016, according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

His trust rating fell 8 points in the second quarter to +57 from +65 in an earlier poll, but it was still considered “very good,” according to the SWS matrix.

The survey showed that 70 percent of respondents had “much trust” on Mr. Duterte and 13 percent had “little trust” while 18 percent said they were “undecided.”

Definition of terms

According to the SWS, a net trust rating is the difference between much trust and little trust percentages and a plus-70 net rating or more is considered “excellent,” while a rating between plus-69 and plus-50 was “very good.”

SWS said Mr. Duterte’s net trust rating was excellent in five of the eight surveys conducted following his inauguration and very good in three.

This gives Mr. Duterte an average net trust rating of very good +69 near the midterm elections, the pollster said.

‘Stupid God’ week

SWS surveyed 1,200 people at the end of June, in a week when Mr. Duterte called God “stupid” and the inflation rate hastened to a five-year high of 5.2 percent.

Mr. Duterte did not mention the survey results on Saturday but presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Malacañang was taking the eight-point drop with “humility.”

“The Palace views the latest survey results with humility. However, we have to take note that regardless of ratings, the President remains focused on his job of governing the nation,” he said.

Roque conceded that the sliding trust rating may be caused by rising prices, which have continuously increased over the past six months since the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law in January.

2 tasks

“Much remains to be done, especially in assisting the poor, vulnerable and severely hungry families,” Roque said.

“We are now working double time to aid families affected by high prices while keeping the economy stable,” he added.

“We thank our people for their continuing vote of confidence during this challenging time,” he said.

Roque said Mr. Duterte remained intent on doing his job, and that the administration was working double time to help those suffering from the continued rise in prices of basic goods.

The survey was conducted in June, when the inflation rate rose to 5.2 percent, six months after the implementation of new taxes in January.

But inflation continued to hasten since then, reaching 6.4 percent in August, the fastest since March 2009, mainly due to a jump in cost of food and nonalcoholic beverages.

Both critics and allies of Mr. Duterte blamed the TRAIN law for the record inflation rates.

Some senators said proponents of tax reform had not been honest in presenting the real effects of adjusting tax rates, which led to rising prices.

Others blamed the inflation rate on increasing prices of rice and food.