MANILA, Philippines — The public satisfaction of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration dropped in the first quarter of 2018, according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey.
The administration scored a net satisfaction rating of +58. It showed a 12-point decline from the +70 in the last quarter of 2017 when the Duterte administration exceeded the record set by his predecessor.
This score qualifies as “very good”—one grade down from “excellent” in the fourth quarter of 2017.
The survey, conducted from March 23 to 27, found 69 percent of adult Filipinos satisfied with the performance of the current administration.
Only 11 percent expressed dissatisfaction, while the remaining 18 percent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
The pollster noted that the 12-point decrease was due to declines in the net satisfaction scores in Balance Luzon, Mindanao and Metro Manila combined with a steady score in the Visayas.
It remained “excellent” in Mindanao +72, although down by 15 points from the record-high +87 in December 2017.
The score stayed “very good” in the Visayas at +57 and Balance Luzon at +50, although there was a 17-point decline from +67 in the last quarter of 2017.
It, however, fell by one grade to “very good” from “excellent” in Manila at +58 in March 2018—down by 13 points from +71 December 2017.
The net satisfaction of the Duterte administration maintained its “very good” rating in classes ABC (+56) and class E (+54).
But it fell to “very good” +58 from “excellent” +71 in class D or the masa.
Excellent in helping victims of disaster
The net satisfaction rating of the Duterte administration was “excellent” in helping victims of disasters (+75), SWS said.
A Pulse Asia survey released last month also found that public approval is more pronounced toward the Duterte administration’s work in the area of responding to the needs of calamity-stricken areas (86 percent).
READ: Pulse Asia: Filipinos approve of Duterte admin's calamity response most
Meanwhile, the latest SWS survey also showed that Filipinos viewed the current leadership as “very good” in helping the poor (+68), reconstructing Marawi City (+63), building and maintaining of public works (+62), promoting the welfare of the overseas Filipino workers (+59), fighting terrorism (+58) and protecting human rights (+54).
It was “good” on eradicating graft and corruption (+46), ensuring an efficient public transportation system (+41), telling the truth to the people (+41), reconciling with Muslim rebels (+41), fulfilling commitments in international treaties (+40), fighting crimes (+40), having good relations with the United Nations and other international organizations (+37), reconciling with communist rebels (+37), foreign relations (+36), defending the country’s territorial rights (+36) and defending Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (+34).
The Duterte government got a “moderate” rating on ensuring that no family will ever be hungry (+22) and “neutral” on fighting inflation (+6).
The March 2018 Social Weather Survey was conducted from March 23-27, 2018 using face-to-face interviews. It has sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.