MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos’ trust in President Rodrigo Duterte rebounded to “excellent” last month from “very high” in September, the results of the latest survey by polling firm Social Weather Stations showed.
The Fourth Quarter 2017 Social Weather Survey, conducted from December 8-16, found 83 percent of respondents with “much trust,” 10 percent “undecided,” and 7 percent with “little trust” in Duterte, giving him a net trust rating of +75, which SWS classifies as excellent.
This pushed net trust in Duterte a grade higher from the +60 he dropped to in September after hitting +75 in June.
SWS noted that the September rating was the only time Duterte dropped below excellent since becoming president.
Before this, he scored “a moderate +16 when SWS first asked about it in December 2015, and stayed at moderate levels up to March 30-April 2, 2016.”
This “went to good +30 on April 18-20, 2016, and to a moderate +26 on May 1-3, 2016, just before the May 9, 2016 elections” and then “rose to a personal record-high of excellent +79 on June 24-27, 2016, just days before his inauguration on June 30, 2016.”
SWS also said net satisfaction in Duterte’s performance improved among both those with “much trust” in him, rising a grade from a very good +69 in September to an excellent +71 in December, and those with “little trust” in him, from a “bad” -38 in September to a “poor” -25 in December.
But among those undecided about whether to trust Duterte, satisfaction dropped 7 points from September’s +14 to December’s +7.
The polling firm explained that its “question on trust rating is different from satisfaction rating as the former gauges public trust in a personality as a whole, while the latter asks about public satisfaction with an individual’s performance related to his/her position or duty.”
SWS said the rise in Duterte’s net trust rating came via “double-digit improvements in all areas”: remaining excellent in Mindanao where he registered a 12-point increase from +82 to +94; from very good to excellent in the Visayas, where it rose 19 points from +57 to +76; also very good to excellent in Metro Manila, up 19 points from +54 to +73; and holding at very good in Balance Luzon with a 14-point uptick from +52 to +66.
Net trust in Duterte also rose from very good to excellent in both urban and rural areas.
It registered excellent across classes, holding steady among the upper ABC, rising from very good among class D, and leaping two grades from good among class E, a 36-point increase from +44 to +80.
The non-commissioned survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adult respondents and had sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The exact survey question was:
MAAARI PO BANG SABIHIN NINYO KUNG ANG PAGTITIWALA NINYO KAY (RODY DUTERTE) AY NAPAKALAKI, MEDYO MALAKI, HINDI TIYAK KUNG MALAKI O MALIIT, MEDYO MALIIT, NAPAKALIIT, O WALA PA KAYONG NARINIG O NABASA KAHIT NA KAILAN TUNGKOL KAY (RODY DUTERTE)? PAKISABI ANG SAGOT NINYO SA PAMAMAGITAN NG PAGLAGAY NG MGA KARD SA NAAANGKOP NA LUGAR SA RATING BOARD NA ITO. [Please indicate if your trust/faith in (RODY DUTERTE) is VERY MUCH, SOMEWHAT MUCH, UNDECIDED IF MUCH OR LITTLE, SOMEWHAT LITTLE, VERY LITTLE, or YOU HAVE NOT HEARD OR READ ANYTHING about (name of personality) ever? You may indicate your answers by placing each card on the appropriate box on this rating board].
