Filipinos' appreciation for the performance of President Duterte's administration on key national issues declined significantly, based on the Pulse Asia's latest Ulat ng Bayan survey results released on Tuesday, Oct. 5.

The non-commissioned survey, which was conducted from Sept. 6 to 11 with 2,400 adult respondents nationwide, found "significant changes" in the present administration's performance ratings on handling 10 key issues "not only between June 2021 and September 2021 but also year-on-year."

"Year-on-year, levels of appreciation for the Duterte administration’s performance on all national issues on which its performance is assessed in the Ulat ng Bayan survey decline significantly (i.e., from -11 percentage points on responding to the needs of calamity-hit areas to -26 percentage points on controlling inflation," Pulse Asia said in a statement.

From June 2021 to September 2021, Pulse Asia pointed out that approval for the present administration’s handling of 10 issues eased.

• Fighting criminality (-5 percentage points)
• Providing employment (-5 percentage points)
• Stopping environmental destruction (-5 percentage points)
• Promoting peace (-6 percentage points)
• Controlling COVID-19 pandemic (-6 percentage points)
• Increasing workers’ pay (-6 percentage points)
• Controlling inflation (-6 percentage points)
• Protecting overseas Filipino workers' welfare (-7 percentage points)
• Enforcing rule of law (-7 percentage points)
• Fighting graft and corruption (-12 percentage points)

Meanwhile, the national administration's disapproval scores increased between June 2021 and September 2021 in these areas.

• Increasing the pay of workers (+5 percentage points)
• Controlling inflation (+6 percentage points)
• Controlling the spread of COVID-19 (+8 percentage points)
• Fighting graft and corruption (+10 percentage points)
• Reducing poverty (+10 percentage points)

Moreover, except for two issues, protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers and enforcing the law on all citizens, Pulse Asia said disapproval for the Duterte administration’s efforts to address all the other issues covered in the present survey became more manifested from September 2020 to September 2021.

The changes varied from +5 percentage points on the issues of criminality and peace to +19 percentage points on the issues of poverty and inflation.

"Indecision toward the Duterte administration’s efforts to protect the welfare of overseas Filipino workers becomes more manifest from June 2021 to September 2021 (+8 percentage points) but eases in connection with its initiatives to reduce poverty (-8 percentage points)," it said.

"Year-on-year, ambivalence levels go up across issues (i.e., with the exception of poverty reduction) ranging from +6 percentage points on the issue of disaster response to +13 percentage points on the issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, corruption in government, and workers’ pay," it added.

While it has been declining, the national administration still enjoys majority approval ratings for its handling of nine issues, based on the latest survey.

• Fighting criminality (74 percent)
• Responding to the needs of calamity-hit areas (71 percent)
• Protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (66 percent)
• Promoting peace in the country (64 percent)
• Assisting those who lost their job/livelihood due to the pandemic (64 percent)
• Enforcing the rule of law on all citizens (60 percent)
• Controlling the spread of COVID-19 (59 percent)
• Stopping environmental destruction (56 percent)
• Fighting corruption (52 percent)

Meanwhile, "big pluralities to near majorities" of Filipino adults appreciate the present dispensation’s efforts to defending national territorial integrity (49 percent), creating more jobs (49 percent), increasing workers’ pay (48 percent), and reducing poverty (41 percent).

"The Duterte administration registers practically the same approval and disapproval ratings for its initiatives to control inflation (37 percent versus 36 percent), a concern deemed urgent by 41 percent of Filipino adults," Pulse Asia said.

Filipinos were also most critical of the Duterte administration’s work in the areas of reducing poverty (32 percent) and controlling inflation (36 percent) while they were least inclined to disapprove of its efforts to protect the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (6 percent), fight criminality (9 percent), respond to the needs of calamity-hit areas (9 percent), and promoting peace (9 percent).

Meanwhile, levels of indecision toward the work done by the national administration range from 17 percent on criminality to 32 percent on national territorial integrity.