Palace ‘humbled’ by 84% rating on Duterte admin Covid-19 response

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on July 30, 2020. SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – Malacañang is humbled by the results of a Pulse Asia survey, which showed that 84 percent of Filipinos approve of the Duterte administration’s coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) response.

In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque thanked the public for its continued trust in the administration’s efforts to respond to the prevailing health crisis.

“Pilipinas, maraming salamat po sa binigay ninyong tiwala nanaman sa ating Presidente. Matapos po niya binigyan ng 91 [percent] trust rating at 91 [percent] performance rating ang Presidente, 84 naman po ang binigay niyo sa pagdating ng handling ng coronavirus-19 (Philippines, thank you very much for the trust you gave our President. After giving him a 91 percent trust and performance rating, you gave his administration an 84 percent rating for handling the coronavirus-19,” he said.

Duterte earlier received a 91 percent performance rating and a 91 percent trust rating amid the pandemic in a Pulse Asia survey released Monday.

Only 5 percent of Filipinos disapproved of Duterte’s performance while 5 percent were undecided. Only 3 percent did not trust the President while 6 percent were undecided.

Roque, meanwhile, vowed that the Duterte administration will continue to work to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 in the lives of Filipinos.

“We are humbled and we are further inspired to serve the Filipino people in this time of pandemic and crisis,” he added.

According to the Pulse Asia survey conducted from Sept. 14 to 20, eight out of 10 Filipinos approve of the work done by the Duterte administration to control the spread of Covid-19 and to provide assistance to those who lost their livelihood or job due to the pandemic.

The administration registered a single-digit disapproval rating in terms of its initiatives to control the spread of the Covid-19 (6 percent) and to help Filipinos who lost their sources of income due to the pandemic (7 percent).

Meanwhile, 10 percent and 9 percent of Filipinos, respectively are undecided about the matter.

The same survey also showed that 92 percent of Filipinos believe Duterte “has done well” in terms of preventing the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

“More specifically, 62 percent of Filipinos truly approve of presidential performance as far as this issue is concerned while 30 percent somewhat approve of the same. The rest of Filipinos either disapprove of the President’s performance (3 percent) or express indecision on the matter (5 percent),” the Pulse Asia said.

Duterte posted huge majority approval ratings across geographic areas and socio-economic classes (87 to 98 percent and 78 to 95 percent, respectively), it added.

On Monday, Roque attributed Duterte’s high performance and trust ratings to his determination to slow down the spread of the virus without politicking.

“Tingin ko gusto ng taumbayan na hindi namumulitika sa panahon ng pandemya. Nakikita naman nila na ginagawa ng Presidente ang lahat ng pupuwedeng gawin para mas kakaunting mga Pilipino magkakasakit ng Covid-19 (I think people don’t like politicking during the pandemic. They can see that the President is doing everything necessary so that fewer Filipinos contract Covid-19),” he said.