MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos’ net satisfaction with the Duterte administration has dropped 6 points since June but was nevertheless a “very good” +58, the results of the latest Social Weather Stations survey showed.
The Third Quarter 2017 Social Weather Survey “found 71 percent of adult Filipinos satisfied, 16 percent neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and 13 percent dissatisfied with the general performance of the current National Administration, for a net satisfaction rating of +58 (% satisfied minus % dissatisfied), classified by SWS as very good.”
“This is 6 points below the very good +64 (75% satisfied, 11% dissatisfied) in June 2017,” SWS said.
The survey was conducted from September 23-27 using face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults and had sampling error margins of ±2.5 percent for national percentages, ±4 percent for Balance Luzon, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The polling firm said the administration’s rating was “excellent” in Mindanao, where President Rodrigo Duterte hails from, and “very good” in the rest of the country.
The survey, which fielded questions on the administration’s handling of specific subjects, said respondents rated four of these “very good,” eight as “good,” and five as “moderate,” with net ratings improving in one subject, declining in four, and holding steady on the rest.
SWS attributed the six-point decline in the administration’s net satisfaction to drops of 16 points in Metro Manila (from +67 in Jun to +51) and 11 points in Balance Luzon (from +63 to +52), offset by a two-point increase in Mindanao (+72 to +74) and one point in the Visayas (+56 to +57).
Across socio-economic classes, the administration’s net satisfaction remained a very good +60 among ABC, up five points from June’s +55, and D, although four points below the previous +64.
In Class E, it suffered a one grade demotion, from very good to good, or a 22-point plunge from +68 in June to +46.
The administration also saw double-digit declines among men, among respondents 55 year olds and older, and among non-elementary school graduates and college graduates.
Among specific subjects, the administration was rated very good in the following:
- Helping the poor (+67)
- Protecting the environment (+58)
- Defending the country’s territorial rights (+52)
- Providing jobs (+50)
It was judged good in:
- Distributing lands to deserving tillers under land reform (+49)
- Fighting terrorism (+47)
- Protecting human rights (+46)
- Foreign relations (+40)
- Reconciling with Muslim rebels (+38)
- Eradicating graft and corruption (+35)
- Reconciling with communist rebels (+35)
- Fighting crimes (+30)
It was moderate in:
- Ensuring that no family will ever be hungry (+29)
- Recovering the ”hidden wealth” stolen by Marcos and his cronies (+28)
- Resolving the traffic problem (+22)
- Solving the problem of extra judicial killings or EJK (+22)
- Fighting inflation (+21)
Breaking down the ratings on specific subjects, SWS said protecting the environment rose a grade from good to very good, from +32 in March 2015 to +58.
Net satisfaction remained very good in three subjects:
- The very good +67 on helping the poor was 2 points above the very good +65 in June.
- The very good +52 on defending the country’s territorial rights hardly changed from the very good +51 in June.
- The very good +50 on providing jobs hardly changed from the very good +51 in June.
It stayed good on six specific subjects:
- The good +38 on reconciling with Muslim rebels was 6 points above the good +32 in June.
- The good +35 on reconciling with communist rebels was 4 points above the good +31 in June.
- The good +47 on fighting terrorism was 2 points below the good +49 in June.
- The good +40 on foreign relations was 3 points below the good +44 in June.
- The good +35 on eradicating graft and corruption was 8 points below the good +43 in June.
- The good +30 on fighting crimes was 13 points below the good +43 in June.
It was moderate in three subjects.
- The moderate +28 on recovering the ”hidden wealth” stolen by Marcos and his cronies was 2 points above the moderate +26 in June.
- The moderate +22 on resolving the traffic problem was 3 points below the moderate +25 in June.
- The moderate +21 on fighting inflation was 3 points below the moderate +24 in June.
However, it fell by one grade from very good to good on two subjects:
- The good +49 on distributing lands to deserving tillers under land reform was 4 points below the very good +53 in September 2016.
- The good +46 on protecting human rights was 9 points below the very good +55 in June.
It fell by one grade from good to moderate on two subjects:
- The moderate +29 on ensuring that no family will ever be hungry was 2 points below the good +32 in June.
- The moderate +22 on solving the problem of extrajudicial killings or EJK was 12 points below the good +34 in June.
