Public satisfaction with Duterte admin rises to ‘excellent’ in Q1 of 2019 — SWS

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech during the opening ceremony of the 2019 Palarong Pambansa at the Davao City-UP Sports Complex on April 28, 2019. JOEY DALUMPINES/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte earned the satisfaction of more Filipinos in the first quarter of 2019.

This, according to the latest survey of Social Weather Stations (SWS) published on Friday, May 3, stating 81 percent of Filipinos are satisfied with the general performance of the Duterte administration, while nine percent were not. Ten percent of them, on the other hand, were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

This gives the government a new record-high net satisfaction rating of +72, classified by the pollster as excellent.

“This is 6 points above the very good +66 (76% satisfied, 9% dissatisfied, correctly rounded) in December 2018, and 2 points above the previous record of excellent +70 in December 2017,” the SWS said.

Duterte admin’s report card

The survey also showed what it called a “Governance Report Card,” where the current administration was rated based on 11 specific performance subjects.

Filipinos gave the government an “excellent” +72 net satisfaction on helping the poor, and “very good” +58 on reconstructing Marawi City and fighting terrorism.

It was rated “good” on fighting crimes (+48), reconciling with communist rebels (record-high +45), reconciling with Muslim rebels (+44), eradicating graft and corruption (+41), foreign relations (+41), defending Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (+40), and ensuring that no family will ever be hungry (+37).

The government, meanwhile, got a “moderate” +22 score on fighting inflation.

Regions

The SWS noted that the government’s overall net satisfaction rating increased in all areas.

In Visayas, it rose from “very good” to “excellent,” up by 11 points from +63 in December 2018.

It remained “excellent” in Mindanao, up by six points from December’s +65.

It also stayed “very good” in both Balance Luzon and Metro Manila, up by three points and five points from its previous record, respectively.

The First Quarter 2019 Social Weather Survey was done on March 28 to 31 this year, using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults nationwide; 360 each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The SWS said the satisfaction rating of the administration’s general performance was based on a single question, “Sa pangkalahatan, gaano po kayo nasisiyahan o hindi nasisiyahan sa kasalukuyang administrasyong nasyonal? Kayo po ba ay LUBOS NA NASISIYAHAN, MEDYO NASISIYAHAN, HINDI TIYAK KUNG NASISIYAHAN O HINDI, MEDYO HINDI NASISIYAHAN, o LUBOS NA HINDI NASISIYAHAN (On the overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the present national administration? Are you VERY SATISFIED, SOMEWHAT SATISFIED, UNDECIDED IF SATISFIED OR NOT, SOMEWHAT DISSATISFIED, or VERY DISSATISFIED)?”

The pollster, however, clarified that this question is “not an average of answers to separate questions on specific subjects.”

“The general rating is repeated every quarter, whereas only a core of the specific subject-ratings are repeated. Subjects are included or excluded depending on their contemporary salience,” it explained.

This survey, it added, was also not commissioned and was released as a public service.