By Genalyn Kabiling
President Duterte could not care less about his popularity and will continue to serve the public without expecting any reward, Malacañang said Thursday.
President Rodrigo Duterte
(ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN)
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo issued the statement after a latest survey showed a slight drop in the public satisfaction with the performance of the Duterte administration.
“While the satisfaction ratings of PRRD beginning his assumption to the presidency are incomparable to his predecessors, he could not care less about these scores because for him, the true measure of proper governance and public service is accomplishing the job entrusted to him by the electorate without expecting any reward for it,” Panelo said.
In the Social Weather Stations survey conducted last September, the Duterte administration earned a net satisfaction rating of +67, classified as “very good.” The latest survey rating was lower than the record high “excellent” satisfaction score of +73 obtained by the administration in the second quarter of the year.
Choosing to see the glass half-full, Panelo said the survey still indicated that a “great majority” of Filipinos remained satisfied with the President’s performance.
“The rating, classified by the independent pollster as very good, demonstrates that a significant number of our countrymen possess discernment that can stand and see beyond the endless politicking managed by the opposition, as well as the rhetorical aspersions peddled by the President’s detractors, critics and skeptics,” he said.
He also welcomed that public satisfaction with the Office of the President in terms of helping the poor, providing information needed by the citizens to properly examine what the government is doing, and having clear policies.
The poll results showed the public’s “acknowledgment of the President’s genuine empathy, transparency, and decisiveness,” Panelo said.