MANILA–The performance and trust ratings of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte remain high despite a slight dip, two senators said Wednesday noting that this meant Filipinos are still confident of his ability to lead the country.
According to the “Ulat ng Bayan” survey released by Pulse Asia Research Inc., the performance rating of Pres. Duterte dropped five points nationally, from 83 percent in December 2016 to 78 percent in March.
Pres. Duterte’s trust rating also dropped seven points, from 83 percent last December to 76 percent in March.
The survey was conducted from March 15 to 20, 2017.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian stressed that Pres. Duterte’s ratings remained high even after he has been subjected to international criticism and negative publicity over the past months.
“…Despite all of the attacks launched against him, a commanding super-majority of the Filipino people remain confident in President Duterte’s ability to lead our country,” Gatchalian, an ally of the President, said.
“If anything, these results illustrate how deeply the Filipino people trust the President and how much they believe in his vision for the Philippines,” he added.
He said that the results do not reflect a “significant” drop in the ratings.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Liberal Party (LP) acting president, said that it “not unusual” for presidents to experience a dip in ratings.
“All Presidents before him also experienced very high trust ratings at the start of their terms and eventually these ratings all dipped so there is really nothing unusual with the five-point drop,” Pangilinan said.
He, meanwhile, expressed hope that the President’s high ratings would drive him to address the country’s top problems.
“His ratings remain high and I hope he uses his high trust ratings to address the main concerns of our citizens which are to address the rising prices of goods, create better paying jobs, and improve incomes,” he added.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a staunch critic of Pres. Duterte, however, said that he was encouraged by the declining numbers noting that “Filipino people are beginning to see the light.”
Trillanes further said that he expected the performance and trust ratings to go down further by May.