Duterte stands by ‘good’ rating; apologizes to God, meets church leaders

PBy RESIDENT Duterte stands by his recent“good” +45 net satisfaction rating although lower compared to his “very good” rating of +56 last March.

“I’ll just coast along,” work hard and face the survival challenge, he said.

*** Duterte, meanwhile, apologized to God and met with Church leaders to clear misunderstanding over his “God is stupid” remarks.

Time to mend differences and reiterate separation between Church and State, he said.

*** Asked to comment on the latest survey showing his lowest personal net satisfaction rating since he assumed office in 2016, the President asserted that he was not interested in popularity.

“I do not care, make it 15. It does not interest me at all. Basta ako, coast along na lang ako,..” Duterte said in a media interview in Clark, Pampanga.

*** “And with a new suggestion, since I am not popular anymore, Congress might decide to get a popular one. You want a popular president, fine, good,” he said, the same way he dismissed a reported destabilization threat from the Communists.

Duterte also said earlier he was ready to cut short his six-year term to allow the election of a transition president who will lead the country towards his proposed shift to federalism.

*** The Social Weather Stations (SWS) said its latest survey showed that 65 percent of the 1,200 respondents were satisfied, 20 percent were dissatisfied, and 15 percent were undecided with Duterte’s performance.

This brought the President’s net satisfaction rating to +45 classified as “good” though low than his “very good” rating of +56 last March, SWS added.

*** Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, however, said that the President still enjoys high public satisfaction ratings, compared to his three predecessors.

“It is worth mentioning that the survey was conducted June 27-30 of this year, which marked the end of the President’s second year in office. The Chief Executive’s +45 rating during the said period remained the highest, compared to his last three predecessors,” he said.

*** “During the end of their second year in office, Presidents Estrada, Arroyo, and Aquino received net satisfaction ratings of +5 in March 2000, +6 in November 2002, and +42 in May 2012, respectively,” Roque added.

Roque added the survey also showed the President still enjoyed the confidence of the majority of Filipinos with his “good” net satisfaction ratings in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, and the Visayas, and “excellent” net satisfaction rating in Mindanao “despite several challenges surrounding his presidency at the time the survey was conducted.”

*** Roque, nonetheless, assured that the President would continue to work harder for the nation.

“Regardless of numbers, we assure everyone that the President and the members of his Cabinet would continue to work doubletime in bringing the fruits of a better and more inclusive economy, and in strengthening the government’s drive against illegal drugs, crime, and corruption,” he said.

*** Meanwhile, the President has issued an apology to God following his controversial statements about Him, saying he was created good, not bad.

“If it is the same God, then I’m sorry. That’s how it is. ‘Yan ang sinabi ko. Sorry God. I said sorry God, if God is taken in a generic term by everybody listening,” he said during his meeting with evangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva in Malacañang. *** But Duterte, who has been under fire for calling God “stupid,” made clear that he was apologizing only to God.

“I only apologize to God, nobody else. If I wronged God, then He would be happy to listen to my apology. Why? Because God is allforgiving. Why? Because does not remember past hurts. Why? Because God created me to be good, not to be bad,” he added.

*** The President explained that his statement about God was in reaction to the action of a foreign missionary critical of his government, Australian missionary nun Patricia Fox who faces deportation over alleged involvement in partisan political activities.

“As a religious, she was agitating also everybody there, the strikers. It was a volatile situation,” he said.

*** Duterte pointed out that his God was “good,” “does not thrive on lies,” and “never eggs people to go in trouble.”

“You’re just a foreigner with a privilege there, you better go home,’ he said, alluding to Fox.

*** Duterte also met earlier with Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles.

The President agreed with his “friend” to a “moratorium on statements about the Church,” Roque said.

*** Duterte, however, reminded religious leaders to stop using God to attack or criticize the government, saying “that is not proper. There is a separation of Church and State.”

Malacanang apparently still hopes for the best: All is well that ends well.