For he’s a jolly good fellow, say Filipinos of Duterte

MANILA: Public satisfaction with the performance of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s government rose in December to the highest level on record since one of the country’s top pollsters started conducting opinion surveys in 1980s.

His administration obtained an “excellent” net satisfaction rating of +70, a rise of 12 points from September’s “very good” level based on a December 8-16 poll, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said yesterday.

Political analyst Ramon Casiple said the latest survey showed Duterte’s popularity had not diminished, despite drawing international criticism for his bloody war on drugs and human rights record.

“It is related to his actions, because he implemented what he promised, starting with his antidrugs campaign, and then the Build, Build, Build infrastructure projects, anti-corruption efforts, and now the charter change to shift to federalism,” he said.

Seventy-nine percent of adult Filipinos said they were satisfied against 9% dissatisfied, resulting in a net satisfaction rating of +70, SWS said. Twelve percent were neither satisfied or dissatisfied.

The figures mirrored the same trend in Duterte’s trust rating, which bounced back to “excellent” in December in the SWS survey, from “very high” three months before.

The Duterte administration’s rating exceeded the previous record of +66 achieved by the administration of former president Benigno Aquino in June 2013.

It got “very good” scores in five of 18 “performance subjects” rated, such as fighting terrorism, helping the poor, infrastructure development, foreign relations and providing jobs, SWS said.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said: “This excellent public confidence will continue to motivate the president and his team to continue working hard to lay down the foundations for a peaceful and prosperous nation.”

The administration got “good” scores in 11 subjects, including defending territorial rights and protecting human rights, but scored low in fighting inflation and solving the traffic problem, the SWS said.