MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte recorded a personal low net satisfaction rating during the second quarter of the year, and opposition senators attributed this to the country's high inflation rate and the disappearance of what one lawmaker said as "the Duterte myth."
Sen. Antonio Trillas IV, a critic of the president, said the 11-point decline in Duterte's net satisfaction rating based on the poll of the Social Weather Stations showed that Filipinos had finally "seen the light."
"The Duterte myth is gone. The novelty of his crass behavior is gone too. The people have finally seen the light. It took the rising cost of living to expose Duterte as nothing more than a one-trick pony," Trillanes said in a statement.
Trillanes, Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and Rep. Gary Alejano (Magdalo party-list) said the rising cost of goods and services was a major factor in the decline of Duterte's net satisfaction rating from a very good 56 percent to a good 45 percent, already the chief executive's personal low.
Aquino said that the drop was a "cry for help" from Filipinos and urged the chief executive to provide them some relief by supporting the suspension of the collection of the excise tax under Duterte's Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law.
"This is a reminder to our president from our countrymen who are drowning in high prices for him to listen to them and suspend TRAIN," said Aquino, who was one of four senators to vote against the tax measure which came into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
Alejano shared this opinion and said that the drop in the rating showed that Filipinos could literally feel the law's effects in their gut.
Complicating the issue was Duterte's tirades against God and their faith, which is helping some to persevere under the current difficult conditions.
"Filipinos are feeling the hunger in their stomach because of the rise in the prices of goods and services because of this administration's TRAIN law," the Magdalo representative said.
"It's really difficult to say that they are satisfied if this is what the president is showing," he added.
Alejano said another issue affecting the people's satisfaction with the president's performance was his government's soft stance on the South China Sea, where China had been aggressive in flexing its military muscle.
He said Filipinos are concerned about the country's direction under Duterte's leadership.
"We only see an administration with a soft stance against China’s incursions in our territory, economy, and culture,” he said.
Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III meanwhile said that there was nothing to worry about the decline of the president's ratings.
He added that the president should not be distracted by surveys of 1,200 respondents.
"Nothing to worry about. Coming from survey with 1,200 respondents" he told Philstar.com.
Polling firms can't survey all members of the population they want to study, so they instead use a sample of this population.
This sample should be representative of the whole population and is determined using a scientific formula.
According to the SWS, the number of people satisfied with Duterte's performance dropped from 70 percent in March to 65 percent last quarter.
The dissatisfaction in his performance meanwhile shot up from 14 percent in March to 20 percent in June.
His ratings were also down across geographical areas, with his steepest drops recorded in Metro Manila and the Visayas.