Amidst the criticism that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte faced after Social Weather Stations (SWS) released the results of his net satisfaction and trust ratings, the said firm’s president on Tuesday called the drop normal but ‘faster than average.’
“I don’t know about the terms ‘wake-up call’ or something like that…If I were just to say, nevermind the news. Let us look at the pattern over time. Well I would just say that the fall is a little bit faster than average,” Mahar Mangahas, President of SWS said in an interview with ANC.
Of the 1500 Filipino adults surveyed from September 23-27, SWS classified Duterte’s net satisfaction rating of +48 as “Good,” a significant two-digit drop from his “Very Good” rating of +66 in June 2017. His trust rating which was +75 classified as “Excellent” dropped to a “Very Good” of +60.
His critics including Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Senator Risa Hontiveros, Senator Bam Aquino, opposition coalition #TindigPilipinas, and others chose to use these results as a ‘sign’ that the people are losing faith in Duterte, his administration, and his presidency.
Mangahas, however, said that this is only the President’s second year. “They all fall…It’s not something to be proud about yet. If he can continue and match the records of Cory [Aquino], [Fidel] Ramos, and Noynoy [Aquino], then it’s something to talk about,” he said in the same interview.
He said that former President Noynoy Aquino had the best ratings of all, and if Duterte wants to be as popular, he has to maintain his rating for at least two more years.
Some politicians like Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian think that this is just part of the ‘cycle of politics’ and that the President’s new brand of leadership got people excited.
In the same way, Malacañang agreed. “[The people’s] expectations were high and the actual implementation of these things may have lead to the dip. However, people are still in general, still satisfied,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a press briefing on Monday.