PRESIDENT Duterte again made history by receiving very high approval and trust ratings more than halfway into his six-year term, an accolade not usually given by Filipinos to a President with a waning term. In sum, Duterte’s satisfaction rating was “excellent” and well deserved.
The Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) latest survey taken last December 13-16, 2019 among adults who are at least 18 years old showed that President Duterte had a +72 net rating (82 percent satisfied and 10 percent dissatisfied). The President received a +65 percent net rating in a previous survey last September, 2019.
The SWS noted that Duterte’s rating now is “seven points above the very good +65 he received in September, a new personal record that also surpassed the previous in June, 2019.” The President’s satisfaction rating was up in several demographics including age groups, urban and rural areas, and among men and women.
More than half of those surveys said the Chief Executive will finish his term in 2022. Of the 1,200 respondents, 52 percent said they expected Duterte to fulfill or nearly fulfill all/most of his promises, a 4-point raise from the number a year ago.
Duterte’s staying power in the polls is due to the fact that Filipinos are already experiencing the good effects of the reforms in governance that the President had initiated in the first half of his term. This is according to Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar.
Andanar said the citizens are assured that the Duterte administration will continue with its duty of serving the needs of the citizens, especially those who are in dire straits such as the victims of the recent eruption of Taal Volcano.
A President usually starts his or her administration with flying colors and new-found popularity. Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III all were “heroes” when they started in office, wallowing in the love and support of a large number of supporters.
But a year or so into the term, Presidents tend to commit errors in judgment, their appointees succumb to graft and corruption, various scandals surface, the economy is battered by man-made and natural disasters, etc. and satisfaction ratings start to go south.
We surmise that Duterte’s enjoying excellent ratings up to this time may be attributed to his fighting in public the oligarchy and the church that burden the Filipino people with poor service, onerous contracts and mass deception. Filipinos now are intelligent enough to know a sincere President with strong leadership when they see one.
