Solon links OVP, DepEd issues to VP Sara’s ratings decline

Vice President Sara Duterte (Photo from House of Representatives Media Affairs Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — The decline in Vice President Sara Duterte’s ratings, as shown in recent surveys, is due to issues faced by her office and the Department of Education when it was under her supervision, House of Representatives Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said on Monday.

Dalipe, in a statement, said the drop in Duterte’s net trust ratings, based on a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey—from 45 percent in July 2024 to just 29 percent in September 2024 — can be attributed to her refusal to address questions about her offices’ budget utilization.

READ: VP’s net ratings drop to lowest since 2022

“Sa palagay natin, nagde-demand ng transparency at accountability ang taumbayan kay VP [Sara] sa gitna ng napakaraming tanong na hindi niya sinasagot o masagot. Repleksyon ito kung anong klaseng lider ka kasi dapat iniingatan natin ang pondo ng bayan,” Dalipe said.

(I think that the public is demanding transparency and accountability from Vice President Duterte since  there are so many questions that she failed or refused to address or answer.  It is a reflection of what kind of leader you are, because we should take care of public funds.)

READ: Pulse Asia: VP Duterte’s trust rating down by 10 points

‘Dalipe said the SWS survey was commissioned by think-tank firm Stratbase, Inc. 

In the survey, the percentage of respondents who had “much trust” in Duterte for July 2024 was at 65 percent — a figure that went down by 10 percentage points, or at 55 percent in September 2024.

In contrast, the percentage of respondents who had little trust for Duterte increased, from 21 percent in July 2024, to 27 percent in September 2024. 

Combined with a higher number of uncertain respondents (13 percent in July to 16 percent in September), a decrease in the net satisfaction rate — +45 to +29 — was noted.

“Palagay ko, hangga’t hindi satisfactorily naipapaliwanag ni VP Duterte ang mga tanong sa paggamit niya ng pondo ng bayan sa DepEd (Department of Education) at sa OVP (Office of the Vice President), magpapatuloy na mawawalan ng tiwala ang mga kababayan natin sa kanya,” he said.

(I think, as long as VP Duterte fails to satisfactorily explain her side after questions regarding public funds in DepEd and OVP, the people would lose trust in her.)

READ: OVP hit for using only 0.4% of its Magnegosyo Ta Day funds

READ: Sara Duterte’s confidential fund spending raises new, more doubts

“Ang kailangan ng mamamayan ay sagot, hindi palusot (What the people need are answers, not alibis),” he added.

Instead of refusing to answer questions, Dalipe urged Duterte to just step up and face the issues head-on. 

“If she wants to restore the public’s faith in her leadership, she must be willing to explain these anomalies transparently and truthfully, under oath. This is the only way to regain the trust of the Filipino people,” he noted.

Aside from this SWS survey, other polls have also indicated lower satisfaction and trust ratings for Duterte.  In August 2024, SWS released a survey report showing that Duterte’s satisfaction rating fell to its lowest level since she took office as Vice President.

SWS still classified the result as “good” since 65 percent of respondents said they were still satisfied with Duterte’s performance, while 21 percent were dissatisfied and 14 percent were undecided.

Then on September 30, Pulse Asia said Duterte’s trust rating fell by 10 percentage points.  This, however, was still high compared to other high-ranking government officials like President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. himself, who got a 50 percent percentage satisfaction rate.

Duterte was previously under fire from House members after budget hearings revealed different issues in offices headed by Duterte — from confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, and anomalies in the delivery of projects.

No less than Dalipe previously said that Duterte may be held liable for graft if she cannot explain how funds were spent, particularly regarding items with adverse findings from the Commission on Audit (COA).

COA handed out a notice of disallowance against P73.2 million of the OVP’s P125 million CF for 2022 — an item which several lawmakers said should not be available in the first place, as the original budget crafted under former vice president Leni Robredo did not have this item.

The observations have led the House committee on good government and public accountability to check on the issues surrounding OVP’s budget utilization.