Duterte admin’s net satisfaction rating falls 12 points in March – SWS

The Duterte administration’s net satisfaction rating dropped 12 points to +58 in the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Although the March 2018 rating was considered “very good,” the decrease was notable since the Duterte administration’s net satisfaction rating was at +70 or “excellent” in December 2017 – the highest-recorded mark since the SWS conducted net satisfaction rating surveys.

Still, however, the Duterte administration’s net satisfaction rating remains high compared with his predecessors’ in a similar time frame.  On the first quarter of their second year in office, the administration of former President S. Benigno Aquino III obtained a +46 net satisfaction rating while former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration got -3, former President Joseph Estrada’s administration had +6, and former President Fidel Ramos’ administration got +15.

According to the SWS, the 12-point decrease can be attributed to the significant drops in ratings within Balance Luzon (17 points), Metro Manila (13 points), and Mindanao (15 points).  The Duterte administration’s rating in Visayas stayed at +57.

The survey, which was conducted from March 23 to 27, translates to 69 percent of Filipinos being satisfied with the administration’s performance, while 11 percent were dissatisfied, and 18 percent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

SWS interviewed 1,200 respondents for the survey, with 300 individuals for each of Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.  It had sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% for each locality.

Rating the government

According to SWS, the Duterte administration is rated “excellent” in helping victims of disasters (+75), and “very good” on helping the poor (+68), reconstructing Marawi (+63), Public works (+62), OFW welfare (+59), counterterrorism (+58), and human rights (+54).

The current administration likewise received good ratings on eradicating graft and corruption (+46), public transportation (+41), transparency (+41), reconciling with Muslim rebels (+41), fulfilling commitments in international treaties (+40), crime prevention (+40), good relations with UN and international organizations (+37), reconciling with communist rebels (+37), foreign relations (+36), defending the country’s territorial rights (+36), West PH sea (+34).

It was moderate on hunger prevention (+22) and neutral in fighting inflation (+6), the survey noted.

Still ‘very good’ for social classes

More men than women also favor the administration, with a +60 rating among men and a +55 rating among women.

Even if the net satisfaction ratings of the administration among social classes went down, it is still at “very good” +56 within Classes A, B, and C, at +58 with Class D, and at +54 with Class E.

College graduates are also content with the administration’s policies and plans, with a +72 rating.  However, the Duterte administration’s grade drops by 12 points among elementary graduates, from +68 in December 2017 to +56 in March 2017.  /kga