Poll: 8 of 10 Filipinos trust the President

President Duterte MALACAÑANG PHOTO

President Rodrigo Duterte may be doing something right as eight in every 10 adult Filipinos across the country and socioeconomic classes trust him and approve of his performance, according to the results of a recent Pulse Asia survey.

The survey, conducted last Dec. 10-15 and 17, also showed that the President’s performance and trust ratings barely changed from his numbers last September.

In the survey that covered 1,200 adults nationwide, Mr. Duterte garnered an approval rating of 80 percent and a trust rating of 82 percent.

Last September, his approval and trust scores were both 80 percent.

The survey had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

The President enjoyed majority approval (72 to 93 percent) and trust (74 to 94 percent) ratings across all geographic areas.

Among socioeconomic classes, 77 to 85 percent approved of his work and 78 to 85 percent trusted him.

Significant strides

“These numbers show that our people are aware of and recognize the significant strides the President undertook in his one year and a half in office,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing.

Roque assured the public that Mr. Duterte would continue to discharge his duties with the nation’s interest foremost in his mind.

“We thus call on everyone to put this appreciation in action by standing as one and helping the government as we continue to address problems of poverty, illegal drugs, criminality and corruption,” he said.

Robredo, Pimentel

Vice President Leni Robredo and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III also maintained the majority approval and trust ratings they got last September.

Robredo obtained an approval rating of 59 percent from 57 percent last September and a trust rating of 58 percent from 55 percent.

She got majority approval and trust ratings in all areas and socioeconomic classes, except in Metro Manila (both at 46 percent) and Class ABC (both at 48 percent).

Robredo on Monday expressed thanks to Filipinos for their continued support.

“In the past months, our numbers in the survey have continued to increase, and this serves as inspiration and challenge to even improve our work to help and serve our fellow Filipino, especially at the laylayan (margins),” she said in a statement.

Pimentel received an approval rating of 57 percent and a trust rating of 53 percent.

The Senate President on Monday said the tax reform law, which exempted from income tax the first P250,000 earned by Filipinos, the campaign for federalism and the Senate’s willingness to investigate and put an end to abuses all helped boost his and the chamber’s trust ratings.

Sereno, Alvarez

Approval and trust for Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez moved up in the latest survey ratings while Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno saw her scores slide.

Alvarez posted an approval rating of 42 percent, up 9 points from September. His trust rating went up 6 points to 37 percent.

For Sereno, only 31 percent approved of her performance while 27 percent trusted her, both down by 4 points from the September survey in which she scored 35 percent in approval and 31 percent in trust.

Senate, House, SC

The latest poll also found that approval and trust ratings of key government institutions improved but only the Senate obtained majority scores for both ratings (55 percent approval and 56 percent trust).

The House of Representatives scored an approval rating of 50 percent but got a trust score of 49 percent.

For the Supreme Court, only 48 percent approved of and 45 percent trusted the institution. —Reports from Inquirer Research, Philip C. Tubeza, Vince F. Nonato, and Jocelyn R. Uy