Pulse Asia: Duterte maintains big approval, trust ratings

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte arrives in Malacañan Palace for a series of meetings on October 12, 2017. (KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte retained high approval and trust ratings according to Pulse Asia Research, Inc. on Friday.

Pulse Asia conducted the Performance and Trust Ratings of the Top Philippine Government Officials from September 24-30, surveying 1200 adults from Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao through face-to-face interviews.

Duterte got an 80% both on the approval rating and the trust rating. According to the Pulse Asia, this appears to be constant compared to the June results of 82%. 14% were undecided, while the remaining 6% said they distrust the President.

Malacañang on Friday through Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella, welcomed the results in a statement.

“Despite the multi-faceted political noise, President Duterte is still the most approved and the most trusted government official in the Philippines today,” Abella said.

He added that this is their way of returning the ‘overwhelming confidence and trust’ of the people to the President. “We hope these survey results inspire us in the government that despite odds and challenges we continue to provide a comfortable life for all Filipinos in an environment free from illegal drugs and criminality,” he said.

Geographically, the President got the highest rating in Mindanao at 92%, followed by Visayas at 86%, Metro Manila at 76%, and last at Luzon at 72%.

In terms of social status, the results revealed that Duterte’s ratings are arranged in descending order, gaining the highest rating in Class E at 86%, followed by Class D at 79%, then finally a 75% for Class ABC.

Twenty key developments that could have affected the results were cited which can be divided into: the current process of the President’s campaign on drugs, the P6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment that got past the Bureau of Customs, Duterte’s ‘support’ on late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Horacio “Atio” Castillo III’s death due to hazing, th status of human rights in the country, the developments in Marawi city, Duterte’s alleged bank accounts, and the rejection of nominations of various personalities in certain government positions.

Just recently, another social research institution, Social Weather Stations (SWS) released its own net satisfaction and trust rating results, which revealed Duterte’s decreased rating from +60 on June 2017 to +48 on September 2017.

(Read: SWS: Rody’s satisfaction, trust ratings drop and SWS: Rody’s ratings decline ‘faster than average’)