By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz
Public satisfaction with the Duterte administration has reached a new record-high rating in the last quarter of 2017, surpassing the record achieved by the Aquino government, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results showed.
The nationwide survey conducted last Dec. 8 to16, 2017 among 1,200 respondents found 79 percent of Filipinos satisfied and 9 percent dissatisfied with the general performance of the Duterte administration. This translates to a new record-high net satisfaction rating of +70 (percent satisfied minus percent dissatisfied), classified by SWS as "excellent."
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
It is a 12-point rise, and up by one grade, from the very good +58 (71 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied) in the third quarter of 2017 conducted in September.
SWS noted that the net +70 rating surpassed the previous record of very good +66 achieved in June 2013 during the Aquino government, and in September 2016 and March 2017 under the present administration.
It attributed the 12-point gain in the Duterte administration's general net satisfaction rating between September to December 2017 to new record-high net satisfaction scores achieved in Mindanao, Metro Manila, and rest of Luzon, combined with a steady score in Visayas.
The administration's net rating stayed excellent in Mindanao, at a new record-high +87 in December 2017, up by 13 points from +74 in September 2017.
This surpassed the previous Mindanao record of +81 in September 2016.
It rose by one grade from very good to excellent in Metro Manila, at a new record-high +71 in December, up by 20 points from +51 in September. This surpassed Metro Manila's previous record of +67 in June 2017.
It stayed very good in rest of Luzon, at a new record-high +67 in December, up by 15 points from +52 in September. This surpassed the previous record of +63 in Luzon in June 2017.
It also stayed very good in Visayas, at +57 in December, but is similar to the net rating in September.
The Duterte administration's net satisfaction rating rose by one grade from very good to excellent in class D or the masa, at a new record-high +71 in December, 11 points higher than +60 in September. This surpassed the previous class D record of +68 in September 2016.
It also rose by one grade from good to very good in the poorest class E, at +66 in December, 20 points higher than +46 in September.
It stayed very good in the upper-to-middle class ABC, at +62 in December, two points higher than +60 in September.
During the same survey period, the Duterte administration received very good grade on five issues, good on 11, and moderate on two issues surveyed by SWS in its governance report card.
‘Very good’
The net rating of the Duterte administration was very good on: fighting terrorism (+67), helping the poor (+66), building and maintenance of public works like roads and bridges (+59), foreign relations (+55), and providing jobs (+50).
‘Good’
It was good on: reconciling with Muslim rebels (+48), telling the truth to the people (+47), defending the country's territorial rights (+46), protecting human rights (+45), reconciling with communist rebels (+43), fighting crimes (+43), eradicating graft and corruption (+42), ensuring an efficient public transportation system (+42), ensuring that no family will ever be hungry (+33), solving the problem of extra judicial killings (+30), and ensuring that oil companies do not take advantage of oil prices (+30).
‘Moderate’
It was moderate on: fighting inflation (+24) and resolving the traffic problem (+23).
SWS pointed out that the national government's net rating improved on seven subjects, declined in one, and steady on the remaining issues, compared to when they were last surveyed.
Net rating
The administration's net rating rose to very good on three specific subjects. The very good +67 on fighting terrorism was 20 points above the good +47 in September 2017.
The very good +59 on building and maintenance of public works like roads and bridges was 19 points above the good +40 in December 2000, while the very good +55 on foreign relations was 15 points above the good +40 in September 2017.
The very good +66 on helping the poor hardly changed from the very good +67 in September 2017, as well as the very good +50 on providing jobs.
The good +47 on telling the truth to the people was 32 points above the moderate +15 in March 2015, while the good +33 on ensuring that no family will ever be hungry was four points above the moderate +29 in September 2017.
The good +30 on solving the problem of extra judicial killings was eight points above the moderate +22 in September 2017, and the good +30 on ensuring that oil companies do not take advantage of oil prices was 25 points higher than the neutral +5 in September 2015.
The good +48 on reconciling with Muslim rebels was 10 points above the good +38 in September 2017, however, the good +45 on protecting human rights hardly changed from the good +46 in September 2017.
The good +43 on reconciling with communist rebels was eight points above the good +35 in September 2017, and +43 on fighting crimes was 13 points above the good +30 in September 2017.
The good +42 on eradicating graft and corruption was seven points higher than the good +35 in September 2017.
But it declined to good +46 on defending the country's territorial rights, six points below the very good +52 in September 2017.
The moderate +24 on fighting inflation hardly changed from the moderate +21 in September 2017, and the +23 on resolving traffic problem was one point higher than the moderate +22 in September 2017.