HOUSE leaders on Saturday gave a thumbs-up to President Rodrigo Duterte who made a record in history for being the country’s most trusted government official with the highest level of public trust since 1999.
Reps. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela, Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar, and Harry Roque of Kabayan party-list welcomed the latest Pulse Asia survey showing President Duterte having kept his highest trust rating despite sharp criticisms against the administration’s intensified war on drugs and other controversies hounding the government.
Albano said Duterte was well-loved bg the Filipino people because of his no-nonsense style of leadership.
“He is a man of his word.. That’s what people like about him. He is not a hypocrite,” Albano, majority leader for the House contingent’s Commission on Appointments, said.
Evardone and Benitez said the Filipino people were satisfied with the President’s handling of the affairs of the governement as this had magnified through the Pulse Asia survey conducted during the last quarter of 2016.
“A sincere heart to serve will always be trusted by the people,” Benitez, chairman of the House committee on housing and urban development, said.
Evardone said he hoped the President’s men would follow suit.
“[The Pulse Asia survey] only means that overwhelming majority of Filipinos continue to support him and his programs. We just hope that his subalterns will perform also based on the expectations of the people,” Evardone said.
For his part, Roque was also elated with the result of the nationwide survey conducted from July 2 to 8, 2016 among 1,200 Filipinos.
“It shows people want and will support a leader with political will. It affirms rejection, too of traditional politicians,” Roque said.
Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas said he hoped President Duterte would be able to maintain it throughout, saying “Digong’s success is the success of the Filipino.”
“It only goes to show that the President is doing something right. This administration may not be a perfect one but the people, as evidenced by the survey, appreciate the changes that have come so far under his watch,” Vargas, vice chairman of the House committee on appropriations, said.
But Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin said “high ratings mean high expectations to do the right thing not just doing good for the public to marvel or appreciate you.”
“It’s obvious that the Duterte administration is still in a campaign mode and not in governance. Its strength is in projecting a decisive leadership of a ship captain willing to sail to rough waters to risk everything. But without a moral GPS to guide you, the outcome is nothing short of a tragic mistake with dire consequences,” Villarin said.
Duterte won the highest trust rating of majority of Filipinos since the polling firm Pulse Asia first conducted its survey, with an overwhelming 91 percent majority expressing trust in him and practically no one distrusting him at 0.2 percent.
A sizeable majority of Filipinos (62 percent) trust Vice President Leni Robredo at 62 percent, while over one in every 10 Filipinos or 11 percent distrust her outright.
More than a quarter of Filipinos at 27 percent are undecided about whether to trust or distrust Robredo.
For most Filipinos, the Duterte government must prioritize three economic issues: controlling increases in prices (68 percent), creating employment opportunities (56 percent) and crafting new pro-poor programs (55 percent) in the first six months in office.