Pulse: Duterte remains most trusted government official

MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte remains the most trusted government official, the latest Pulse Asia survey released on Wednesday showed.

The Pulse Asia survey, conducted from June 24 to 30, revealed that Duterte got an 85 percent approval and trust rating while Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo got a 55 percent approval rating and a 52 percent trust rating.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III meanwhile obtained a 77 percent approval rating and a 73 percent trust rating while former House Speaker Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, who got the lowest ratings, had 26 percent approval rating and a 22 percent trust rating.

For his part, Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin got a 41 percent approval rating and 35 percent trust rating.

Only 3 percent of 1,200 respondents of the survey said they disapprove of Duterte’s performance while only 4 percent claimed they have small or no trust in him.

Approval is the predominant opinion as regards the work of Duterte and Sotto across geographic areas while Robredo enjoys majority approval in most geographic areas and socio-economic groupings, with only those in Metro Manila and those in Class ABC withholding majority scores from her, the survey noted.

Pulse Asia says it has 95% confidence in the survey results with an error margin for nationwide results of ±2.8%, and ±5.7% for Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Among the key issues during the survey period were the ramming and sinking of a Filipino fishing boat in Recto Bank, the explosion in Barangay Kajatian, Indanan, Sulu, the public school teachers’ call for a pay hike, the call made of 11 United Nations (UN) human rights experts for an investigation into the human rights situation in the Philippines, and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation ghost claims issue.  /muf