Six out of 10 Filipino adults expressed concern over the state of health of President Rodrigo Duterte, an independent pollster revealed on Wednesday.
According to the latest Social Weather Stations survey, 66 percent of Filipino adults said they are worried about Duterte’s health while 34 percent of those polled said they are not worried.
“Those worried about Pres. Duterte’s health rose by 11 points from 55 percent while those not worried fell by 10 points from 44 percent,” said the SWS.
The net belief that the President has health problems also experienced a six-point increase, registering at 25 percent last December 2018 from the previous 19 percent recorded last September 2018.
“The December 2018 survey also found that 49 percent believe [17 percent strongly believe and 32 percent somewhat believe], and 24 percent do not believe [11 percent somewhat not believe and 13 percent strongly not believe], that President Duterte currently has health problems. Twenty-seven percent are undecided about the matter,” the polls firm said.
The SWS also noted that the proportion of those who expressed worry on the President’s health condition was higher among those who believe the President currently has health problems at 75 percent, compared to the 62 percent who expressed ambivalence on the matter, and the 53 percent of those polled who do not believe he has health problems at all.
The SWS also attributed the 11-point rise in the overall proportion of those worried about Duterte’s health from September 2018 to December 2018 to the increases in all areas.
“The proportion of those worried about the President’s health was highest in Mindanao at 73 percent, followed by Metro Manila at 66 percent, the Visayas at 66 percent, and Balance Luzon at 63 percent,” the SWS said.
Majorities across locales and socio-economic classes, ranging from 65 percent to 70 percent are worried about Duterte’s health, the poll firm added.
Meanwhile, the belief that Duterte has health problems was high in Metro Manila, urban areas, and upper classes.
“Net belief that President Duterte has health problems was highest in Metro Manila at +31, followed by Balance Luzon at +28, the Visayas at +26, and Mindanao at +14,” it said.
It was also higher in overall urban areas at +29, compared to overall rural areas at +22.
The SWS also said that the belief was highest in class ABC at +31, followed by class E at +27, and class D at +24.
The survey, conducted from December 16 to 19, used face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults.
It had sampling error margins of ±2.6 percent for national percentages, and ±5 percent each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.