Palace hails SWS poll but Duterte support among poor declines
HONG KONG—Malacañang is happy that President Duterte continues to enjoy the confidence of Filipinos, based on the result of the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey.
But an opposition lawmaker on Thursday said that the decline in the President’s net satisfaction rating among the poor could be attributed to his “antipoor policies.”
The SWS survey gave Mr. Duterte a “very good” net satisfaction rating of +56, a 2-point drop from his +58 rating in December.
SWS attributed the drop to the 11-point decline in his ratings in Balance Luzon and 1 point in Metro Manila, and the 12-point increase in the Visayas and 2-point increase in Mindanao.
Malacañang noted that the survey gave the President a “very good” rating in classes A to D, and a “good” rating in class E.
Mr. Duterte’s class E rating used to be “very good.” But in the latest survey, it went down 17 points to +48, from +65.
“Public confidence … has remained high notwithstanding matters and concerns the government is handling. We are thus grateful for our people’s vote of confidence,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.
Biggest casualty
But ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio said the poor were the biggest casualty of the controversial policies of the Duterte administration—from the bloody drug war to the tax reform law.
In a press briefing, Tinio said Mr. Duterte was able to maintain his popularity only because he continued to focus on building his reputation, even if this meant letting go of his trusted men.
Roque said the ratings would continue to inspire Mr. Duterte and his Cabinet to make sure the fruits of sustained and inclusive growth would be felt by the poorest and marginalized sectors.
At the same time, the Duterte administration would see to it that communities are protected from drugs, crime, and terrorism, he said.
Seven of 10 satisfied
The results of the poll, taken from March 23 to 27, showed that seven in 10 Filipinos were satisfied with the performance of the President in the first three months of 2018.
Seventy percent of the 1,200 respondents were satisfied with Mr. Duterte’s work, down a point from December, while 14 percent were dissatisfied, up a point.
The percentage of those undecided went up to 17 percent from 15 percent at the end of 2017.
Net satisfaction with Mr. Duterte—the percentage of satisfied minus percentage dissatisfied—was +56 in March from +58 in December 2017. Both ratings were considered “very good.”
While the President’s net satisfaction rating declined 11 points to +39 in Balance Luzon and 1 point to +54 in Metro Manila, it rose 12 points to +65 in the Visayas and 2 points to +82 in Mindanao, resulting in the 2-point decline, which is within the margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points, in his overall rating.
However, by socioeconomic class, Mr. Duterte’s net satisfaction score plunged 17 points to +48 among class E respondents. It fell 3 points to +63 in classes A, B and C but was unchanged at +57 among class D.
Mr. Duterte’s net satisfaction rating in rural and urban areas were both at +56, but compared to last December, net satisfaction among those in rural areas increased 2 points while it decreased 7 points among those in urban areas. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
