SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV on Sunday raised doubts on the results of the latest Pulse Asia Survey in which President Rodrigo Duterte received 80 percent in both approval and trust ratings.
He told dzBB radio it was “impossible” that recent events including the death of teenage boys had little impact on Duterte’s approval and trust ratings.
“Perhaps, they committed a mistake”•it’s either in the sampling method or in the research work,” said Trillanes, a strong critic of the President.
In other developments:
• PDP Laban vice chairman and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the latest SWS and Pulse Asia surveys showed the continuing strong support for the ruling party’s platform of change.
“When I read the survey, the numbers told me we’re on the right track and we must push harder for genuine reforms. The Filipino people are waiting for us to fulfill our promises,” Cusi said.
• Former Leyte representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, president of the Philippine Constitution Association, said Sunday the firm commitment of President Rodrigo Duterte to fight illegal drugs and criminality, promote good governance and justice, and wipe corruption in the pursuit of economic stability would continue to keep his high trust and approval ratings.
Trillanes said it was likely that the researchers of Pulse Asia had been compromised.
“They could have just been done under the trees,” he said.
“It’s impossible there’s no change in opinion since June when there was no issue yet and now that there are several issues.”
Trillanes said it would not be the first time that a Pulse Asia Survey would have a discrepancy in its results.
“This is not the first time na nangyari ‘yan. Remember nu’ng 2007 na-miss nga ako nu’ng Pulse Asia. Talo daw ako.”
The latest Pulse Asia survey results showed that Duterte had an 80-percent approval rating, which was slightly lower than June’s 82 percent. Eighty percent of Filipinos had a “big trust” in him as well.
However, a separate survey by SWS showed that the President had a net satisfaction rating of +48, which had slid by 18 points from +66 and was deemed to be the lowest record during his term.
Reacting on the decline in the President’s ratings in the SWS survey, Trillanes said Filipinos “are beginning to see the light.”
“It’s very encouraging to know that the Filipino people are beginning to see the light. They are now seeing Duterte for who he really is: a lying, rude, amoral, corrupt and oppressive former mayor who is totally incompetent about governance at the national level,” Trillanes said.
“Worse, his bloody war on drugs has killed thousands of his own people and created a climate of fear across the country.”
Trillanes said he expectd the next survey results “to be worse” as the recent SWS survey conducted Sept. 23 to 27 was done before the Ombudsman said it was investigating the President’s bank accounts.
On several occasions, Trillanes has accused Duterte of amassing Ill-gotten wealth amounting to P2 billion, that he says was stashed in banks from September 2006 to December 2015. He even challenged the President to sign a waiver on the bank secrecy law to disprove his allegations of unexplained wealth.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon attributed the decline in Duterte’s satisfaction and trust ratings to “self-inflicted” issues as he advised the Chief Executive to review his administration’s policies. With Rio N. Araja
