Senators credit Duterte’s popularity to fierce approach vs drugs

In this Tuesday Oct.4, 2016 photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses army troopers during his visit to its headquarters in suburban Taguig city east of Manila, Philippines. In just 100 days in office, President Duterte has stirred a hornet’s nest by picking a fight with Barack Obama, the United Nations, the European Union and others who have criticized his brutal crackdown against drugs that has left more than 3,600 suspects dead. In another defining aspect of his unorthodox rule, the 71-year-old Duterte has pushed back his country’s 65-year treaty alliance with the United States while reaching out to China and Russia. AP Photo

MANILA — Several senators on Tuesday attributed President Duterte’s resilient popularity to his stern approach to the drug war, even while this iron-fisted style has drawn fierce criticism from world leaders and the international media.

The latest Social Weather Stations survey covering Sept. 24 to 27, or just before the administration marked its first 100 days in office, showed that four out of five Filipinos trust Mr. Duterte — or 83 percent out of 1,200 respondents.

“Filipinos perceive him as a man of action who produces results, particularly in defeating the scourge of illegal drugs, which I think has hit the core of fear among ordinary families for many years. It is more than enough for him to maintain his impressively high trust rating,” said Sen. Panfilo Lacson in a text message.

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara has not seen the survey results but shared what he thought about the results: “[P]erhaps many people feel safer with the administration push to emphasize peace and order.”

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri credited Mr. Duterte’s still high rating to his “no-nonsense approach against criminality and drugs.”

“It’s the first time in our country’s history where our leader is willing to take on highly financed, well-armed and well-connected criminal drug syndicates head on in such a short span of time, threatening and even arresting politicians and generals and those in high ranking positions that were deemed untouchable in the past,” he said.

He said the people could see how Mr. Duterte had started to fulfill his campaign promises. He hoped that the President could extend such determination to other pressing social issues.

“He is projecting himself as a man of action and its being accepted well by our people. I’m just hoping that the zeal he presents against criminal and drugs is the same zeal that he can present with the fight against poverty, traffic and poor infra development,” he said.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, meanwhile, cited Mr. Duterte’s appeal to the masses.

“They understand him when he speaks about the drug problem. The 49% drop in criminality is appreciated by the ordinary man on the street. This is the primary reason why President Duterte enjoys a high approval rating up to this time,” he said.

Other senators did not comment as they have not read the details of the survey results.

Sen. Joel Villanueva meanwhile noted the decline, saying this was a sign that the President could do better.

“It is good that he is still enjoying net positive rating but this should also signal the executive that the public is expecting more from the President: maybe more stable, predictable policies especially international relations. We have a lot of OFWs and our international policies will have a significant effect on the situation of our kababayans abroad,” he said.  SFM