Presidential spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
MANILA, Philippines — The relentless tirades of critics to President Rodrigo Duterte have been ignored by the majority of Filipinos, as the firebrand leader retains his status as most approved and trusted official in government, Malacañang said Friday.
In the latest Pulse Asia survey, Duterte got an 81 percent approval rating in December, up by six percentage points from his September 2018 rating while his trust rating also increased by four percentage points from 72 percent in September 2018 to 76 percent in December of the same year.
READ: Duterte still most trusted Philippine official; Arroyo least trusted – Pulse Asia
“The survey results underscore that our people fully believe in the methods undertaken by the President in running the bureaucracy and the country, including formulating judgments during particular situations and events where Filipino people’s lives and the country’s economy are at stake,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
Panelo cited that the survey was conducted when Congress approved the third extension of martial law in Mindanao and the President ’s approval of his economic managers’ recommendation to proceed with the implementation of the P2 hike in fuel excise tax starting this January.
He also noted that the “survey was taken at a time that the church, human rights groups, the opposition, the critics and the detractors were taking turns in lambasting the President’s hyperbolic style of delivering his narratives on certain issues and groups.”
“It appears that the tirades against PRRD have been ignored by a huge majority of Filipinos. The Pulse Asia survey is therefore another repudiation of the critics and detractors of PRRD who don’t see or refuse to see the good in whatever the Chief Executive does and says,” he said.
“Their loud hysterical harping and assaulting the administration with their accusations and condemnation are in sharp contrast to the clamor of the Filipinos for genuine and transparent change,” he added.
Panelo then assured the public that “(w)hile the President is pleased with the survey results… such excellent acceptance and performance rating shall not stop him from excelling further to meet the expectations of the people he has sworn to serve and protect.”
“His heart and mind will be focused in performing his constitutional duties faithfully and courageously,” he said. /kga