8 in 10 Pinoys approve Duterte admin’s Covid-19 response

MANILA – Eight out of 10 Filipinos have a “positive opinion” about the Duterte administration’s coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) response, a Pulse Asia survey showed Thursday.

Pulse Asia’s 2020 Ulat ng Bayan Survey said 84 percent of Filipinos approved 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 novel coronavirus (6 percent) and to help Filipinos who lost their sources of income due to the pandemic (7 percent).

Meanwhile, ambivalence concerning the administration’s handling of the health crisis and helping the affected individuals is expressed by 10 percent and 9 percent of Filipinos, respectively.

The same survey also showed that 92 percent of Filipinos believed that 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).

In the survey conducted from Sept. 14 to 20 using face-to-face interviews, the pollster said 97 percent of Filipinos express concern about getting sick due to the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

“More particularly, 84 percent of Filipinos are very much worried while 13 percent are somewhat worried about contracting Covid-19,” it added.

Only 2 percent of Filipinos are not worried about contracting Covid-19 while 1 percent are undecided on the matter, the survey said.

It also showed that 71 percent of Filipinos regularly clean their hands with soap or alcohol/hand sanitizer to avoid getting Covid-19, 55 percent use face masks, 33 percent observe physical distancing, and 32 stay home unless it is necessary to go out.

The survey is based on a sample of 1,200 adults and has a +/- 2.8 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level.

Just three days before the survey was conducted, Duterte signed into law the “Bayanihan to Recover as One” Act or Bayanihan 2 which provides a PHP165.5 billion fund to address the Covid-19 health crisis.

Last Monday, the Pulse Asia also released a separate survey showing Duterte as the most appreciated and trusted among the top government officials of the country.

Both the performance and trust ratings of the President hit 91 percent.

As of Wednesday, the Philippines logged a total of 329,637 cases of Covid-19, of which 273,723 are recoveries, and 5,925 are deaths.