MANILA — Malacañang welcomed on Thursday the ‘very good’ +64 net satisfaction rating that President Rodrigo Duterte earned in his first three months in office.
According to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, 76 percent of the 1,200 adults interviewed nationwide were satisfied, 11 percent were dissatisfied and 13 percent were undecided regarding President Duterte’s performance from July to September.
The survey, conducted on Sept. 24-27, yielded a net satisfaction rating of +64 percent, making Duterte the first president who bested most of his post-EDSA People Power predecessors except for former president Fidel V. Ramos.
The SWS data showed that President Duterte had a better score than former presidents Corazon Aquino’s ‘very good’ +53 net satisfaction rating; Joseph Estrada’s ‘very good’ +60; Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s ‘moderate’ +24; and Benigno Aquino III’s ‘very good’ +60.
Ramos, who is currently President Duterte’s special envoy to China focusing on the West Philippine Sea issue, got a similarly ‘very good’ +66 net satisfaction rating.
”I would just like to say that the President seems to be off to a very good start,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a press briefing.
Abella said that despite criticisms on President Duterte’s war on drugs, the survey proved that people still trust him.
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Martin Andanar, for his part, said the ‘very good’ rating is a clear indication that a majority of the Filipino people “approve his performance”.
”The people are beginning to feel that the President is really doing his job, his program against illegal drugs, and they feel that they are safer now,” Andanar said in a radio interview.
”This is not surprising at all as the President was overwhelmingly elected in the May polls on the strength of his platform of real change anchored on a strong anti-drugs, anti-crime and anti-corruption agenda,” Andanar said in a separate press statement.
He however said that while the Duterte administration’s performance is exemplary, “this is not the time for complacency”.
”There is much work to be done, not only in eliminating the scourge of illegal drugs and crime, but also in fighting poverty and improving the lives of the underprivileged and the powerless,” Andanar said.
”More than ever, we ask for the full support of all Filipinos behind the President’s reform so that we can achieve lasting peace and prosperity in the years ahead,” he added.
Abella said President Duterte’s very good rating is backed up by the World Bank report that the Philippine economy is expected to accelerate 6.4 percent this year.
The Palace official also mentioned the Board of Investments (BOI) report that the business commitments approved last month soared to 200 percent, or PHP51 billion, from PHP17 billion in the same period last year.
He said this reflects the strong investment confidence under the Duterte administration.
Abella said the new investments are expected to generate an additional 37,000 jobs. Jelly Musico/PNA-northboundasia.com