Duterte on sharp ratings drop: It does not really matter to me

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte was unfazed by the significant drop in his quarterly satisfaction ratings in the latest Social Weather Stations survey.

According to SWS, the president's net satisfaction score suffered from an 18-point decline for the third quarter — the largest fall since he became president in June 2016. The biggest declines came among the very poor and those living in urban areas.

Reacting to the survey results, Duterte, in an interview with state-run PTV on Friday, dismissed the downgrade in his ratings and said that he was just doing what he promised during the campaign period.

“It does not really matter to me. Kasi ‘yung lahat na ginagawa ko, those were exactly the words that I used during the campaign,” Duterte said. “I am not hungry for statistics. Tapos na po ‘yan. ‘Yung 16 million [votes] po, ‘yun na ‘yung statistics ko,” he added.

The firebrand leader then said it is no longer his problem if people are starting to spurn his words. “‘Yung ratings, maski mag-abot ako ng zero. Wala ‘yun … May trabaho ako,” he said. “Ngayon, dumating ang panahon na hindi niyo kayang lunukin ‘yung sinabi ko. Problema ninyo ‘yan, hindi ko problema ‘yan,” he added.

According to SWS president Mahar Mangahas, the sharp drop in Duterte's ratings — which was “faster than average” against his predecessors — would have been due to the rising number of alleged extrajudicial deaths in the country.