91% of Filipinos trust Duterte - Pulse Asia

MANILA, Philippines — A recent Pulse Asia survey showed that 91 percent or nearly all Filipinos trust President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte.

Based on the survey, only 0.2 percent distrust Duterte while the rest could not say if they trust or distrust him.

A total of 1,200 respondents participated in the survey conducted last July 2-8 after his oath taking. The survey has a ± 3-percent error margin at the 95-percent confidence level.

Duterte got high trust ratings in all social classes: ABC (89 percent) and DE (92 percent). Meanwhile, the poll showed that Robredo is most trusted by social class D (64 percent) compared to classes ABC (53 percent) and E (61 percent).

Meanwhile, Vice President Maria “Leni” Robredo gained a trust rating of 62 percent. Eleven percent expressed small or no trust while 27 percent said they were undecided.

The survey also revealed that 35 percent of Filipinos trust Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno while 19 percent do not trust her. Some 42 percent of the respondents said they were undecided.

The president got the highest trust ratings among respondents from Mindanao (97 percent) while Robredo got her highest trust rating from respondents in Visayas (72 percent).

The respondents said they want the Duterte administration to focus on three economic issues — controlling increases in prices (68 percent), creating employment opportunities (56 percent) and crafting new pro-poor programs like education, health and housing for the poor (55 percent) — in its first six months in office. Forty-eight percent would like the new administration to immediately address the problem of criminality in the country.

Last week, the Social Weather Stations also released the results of its nationwide trust rating poll conducted from June 24-27 showing that Duterte gained 84 percent trust rating while only 5 percent had “little trust” in him for an “excellent” net trust rating of +79.

Pulse Asia President Ronnie Holmes said that based on history most presidents obtain high ratings during their first week in office, and usually, it is the highest they can get throughout their term.

“This is the highest numerically (trust ratings during the first week). It’s been high for most presidents,” Holmes said. — Infographic design by Jonathan Asuncion