Vice President Sara Duterte (Photo from House of Representatives Media Affairs Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — The decline in Vice President Sara Duterte’s ratings, as shown in recent surveys, is due to issues faced by her office and the Department of Education when it was under her supervision, House of Representatives Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said on Monday.
Dalipe, in a statement, said the drop in Duterte’s net trust ratings, based on a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey — from 45 percent in July 2024 to just 29 percent in September 2024 — can be attributed to her refusal to address questions about her offices’ budget utilization.
“Sa palagay natin, nagde-demand ng transparency at accountability ang taumbayan kay VP [Sara] sa gitna ng napakaraming tanong na hindi niya sinasagot o masagot. Repleksyon ito kung anong klaseng lider ka kasi dapat iniingatan natin ang pondo ng bayan,” Dalipe said.
(I think that the public is demanding transparency and accountability from Vice President Duterte since there are so many questions that she failed or refused to address or answer. It is a reflection of what kind of leader you are, because we should take care of public funds.)
‘Dalipe said the SWS survey was commissioned by think-tank firm Stratbase, Inc.
In the survey, the percentage of respondents who had “much trust” in Duterte for July 2024 was at 65 percent — a figure that went down by 10 percentage points, or at 55 percent in September 2024.
In contrast, the percentage of respondents who had little trust for Duterte increased, from 21 percent in July 2024, to 27 percent in September 2024.
Combined with a higher number of uncertain respondents (13 percent in July to 16 percent in September), a decrease in the net satisfaction rate — +45 to +29 — was noted.
Instead of refusing to answer questions, Dalipe urged Duterte to just step up and face the issues head-on.
“If she wants to restore the public’s faith in her leadership, she must be willing to explain these anomalies transparently and truthfully, under oath. This is the only way to regain the trust of the Filipino people,” he noted.