The Duterte administration, with only 27 months before it bows out after a six-year term, has been given an “excellent” rating by the Social Weather Stations in its poll last December released only this week.
The +73 rating of the administration, which matched the record-high set in June 2019, according to Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo on Friday was a “clear indication” that Filipinos believed in the transparent and responsive government under the stewardship of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The notch, obtained by the survey from Dec. 13 to 16, suggested that 81 percent of those polled were satisfied, 7 percent were dissatisfied with how the administration operated, while 12 percent were undecided.
The Social Weather Stations or SWS, a social research institution in the Philippines founded in August 1985, is a private, non-stock, non-profit institution.
The survey was conducted from Dec. 13 to 16, and it showed that 81 percent of those polled were satisfied, 7 percent were dissatisfied with how the administration operated, while 12 percent were undecided.
The six-point gain in the net score was due to score increases across all regions that gave “excellent” ratings, SWS said.
Those polled from the poorest communities rated the Duterte administration the highest, racking up an “excellent” +74 rating among the class D and E.
Meanwhile, those from the middle- to high-income brackets were less satisfied, with the net score dipping 10 points to a “very good” +68 by the end of 2019.
During the survey’s time frame, Duterte lashed out at Fernando Zobel de Ayala and Manuel V. Pangilinan over the 1997 water concession agreement, he said contained provisions that were unfair and disadvantageous to the government.
Ayala and Pangilinan head the major water concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad, respectively.
SWS said in terms of issues, the Duterte administration’s rating improved to “excellent” from “very good” when it came to fighting terrorism, developing a healthy economy, reconciling with Muslim rebels and protecting the freedom of the press.
Meanwhile, the government was rated “good” in fighting crime, reconciling with communist rebels, and defending the country’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.
The same survey revealed that scores dipped in terms of the administration’s strategies to remove graft and corruption, as well as in acting “according to what people want.”
The administration’s score fell from “good” to moderate on recovering the “hidden wealth” stolen by Marcos and his cronies, which was down from +30 to +25.
“All Filipinos are assured that the survey finding would not cause the administration to be complacent, but instead serve as an inspiration for us to take another extra mile in rendering genuine service for our people,” Panelo said.
The survey had sampling error margins of ±3 percent at the national level.