PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE suffered double-digit dips in both of his approval and trust ratings for the third quarter of the year, a survey by Pulse Asia showed. For September, Duterte garnered an approval rating of 75 percent, a 13-point drop from June’s figure. His disapproval rating rose by 7 percent, from 3 percent in June to 10 percent.
His trust rating, on the other hand, suffered a 15-point hit from June’s figure, at 72 percent. Nine percent said they have little to no trust in Duterte. Malacañang, however, was unfazed despite the fall, saying the rating still equates to “very good.”
“The President rules because it is his constitutional duty, he does not rule because of survey results. We take note of the survey results. We take note of the survey results, but we are not affected by [them] because the President will do his best to discharge his duties as President and Commander-in-Chief,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said in a news briefing.
“I believe that’s still a very good approval rating, certainly higher than mine, and certainly still the highest of all the officials surveyed by Pulse Asia,” he added.
Roque said the decline may have been caused by the inflation and the rice crisis, but the government is doing its best to address these difficulties. “We are doing everything we can to fix the rice issue, to lower the prices of goods. We admit that inflation hurts everyone, even the President. So, we are fixing it, we are in this together, we will see that the steps we are taking will have results,” the spokesman added.
Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo’s approval rating stood at 61 percent for September, a decline of one point.Seventeen percent of those surveyed voiced disapproval of Robredo, a three-point decrease from June’s figure. Her trust rating remained at 56 percent.
Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd received a 73 percent approval rating and 15 percent disapproval rating. He had 66 percent trust rating, with 6 percent distrusting him.
Sotto replaced Sen. Aquilino Pimentel 3rd as Senate president in May. Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also had a dismal trust rating, with only 19 percent of Filipinos giving her a thumbs-up, compared to 43 percent distrust rating. Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed were undecided.
Arroyo, a former president, replaced Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez as the head of the House of Representatives in July. She took her oath as the new Speaker on July 23. Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio had a 42 percent approval rating and a 15 percent disapproval rating.
Thirty-three percent of those surveyed said they trust Carpio, while 19 percent said they do not trust him. Pulse Asia said incumbent Chief Justice Teresita de Castro was not included in the poll because she took her oath of office only a few days before the start of the field work for the survey.
The survey also showed that the approval ratings of both chambers of Congress and the Supreme Court fell. The Senate as a whole received a 63 percent approval rating from June to September, a six-point plunge from the previous period. The High Court also took an 11-point hit in its approval rating of 52 percent from June’s 63 percent.
The House of Representatives suffered a 10-point plunge at 56 percent for September. Pulse Asia’s nationwide survey has a + 2 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level. Sub-national estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the error margins at 95 percent confidence level: +6 percent for Metro Manila, +3 percent for the rest of Luzon and +5 percent for each of the Visayas and Mindanao. (Ralph Villanueva, The Manila Times)
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