Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella during the regular Mindano Hour held at Malacañan’s Executive Building, Oct 17,2017.
INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
Malacañang on Friday assured the public that it is addressing criminality and corruption in government after these two issues were among the urgent concerns of Filipinos.
“The Duterte administration is in the right direction when it made fighting criminality and fighting corruption as its centerpiece program,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
In the Pulse Asia’s September 2017 Ulat ng Bayan survey released on Friday, controlling prices of commodities, increasing workers’ wages, fighting criminality, creating more jobs and fighting graft and corruption were the top urgent concerns of Filipinos.
In the same survey, Pulse Asia said the government got a 78% approval rating in fighting criminality, 6 points below the from 84% in June. The survey also showed that the government got a 70% approval in fighting graft and corruption in government, from the previous 76%.
The approval rating for the equal enforcement of the law had a “significant” 7-point drop from 74% in June 2017 to 67% in September 2017.
“The survey results indeed underscore the President’s promise of genuine change to have safe neighborhoods and peaceful communities under a trustworthy government has been felt by people on the ground,” Abella said.
“We are hopeful that this translates into increased investments and better economic prospects that address urgent national concerns, such as reducing poverty, controlling inflation, creating jobs, and improving the pay of workers to achieve our common aspiration of comfortable life for all,” he added.
Sought for comment on the drop on approval ratings on selected national issues, Malacañang did not issue any statement.