Meaning of survey results

As expected, Duterte’s satisfaction rating remains “very good,” according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS). This survey which shows a net satisfaction rating of + 56 percent, is supposedly the result of the face to face interview of only 1,200 adults, 18 years and above, representing all sectors of our society, from richest to the poorest (classes “A” to “E”) in all regions of our country, from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The doubt still lingering in the public mind however is how could the interview of only 1,200 adults really reflect the sentiments of the country’s entire population now numbering almost 100 million or even just the more than 50 million registered voters in our country. Indeed based on the results of the last election, Duterte’s votes comprise only less than 30 percent of the voters. Furthermore, the survey has not specified the particular questions asked those those that were interviewed.

And so even granting that this survey is reliable as it is supposedly conducted in a scientific manner, does it mean that plus 56 percent of our population, or of the registered voters, really believe that Duterte and his administration are performing their jobs well and for the sake of the country? Are Filipinos really satisfied in our present economic, political and social situation? Are we really succeeding in our fight against poverty, graft and corruption in government that hinder and prevent us from achieving peace, progress and prosperity?

By just going around in our respective neighborhood and places of work, and “keeping our ears on the ground” we can easily see that nothing much has really change in our land because the rich are still getting richer especially our politicians who are now in power; graft and corruption still exist and proliferate despite Duterte’s much vaunted and oft repeated boast to fight and eradicate them; and more significantly, respect for life and observance of due process of law have been flagrantly disregarded and violated especially in the supposed fight against drugs where mere suspected but not yet convicted “criminals and/or drug addicts” are brutally shot and killed allegedly because they resisted and endangered the lives of the well armed law enforcers. More noticeable and detestable in this connection is the release and exoneration of well known and notorious drug lords who brought the drug menace in our country.

Thus, many people think that this high satisfaction rating of Duterte is more due to the aggressive and unwarranted publicity especially in social media where lots of wrong information or mis-information, or fake news continue to circulate and proliferate. Mere opinions or unfounded conclusions of facts are already being aired and published as truth especially if they are in favor of this administration and exaggerate on Duterte’s feats and achievements.

Credit should be given in this regard not only to the administration’s Communications Team specifically the PCOO, but also and more especially to Duterte’s  diehard supporters (DDS). Their well known modus operandi is to attack, assail and throw all kinds of brickbats against those who fight and resist Duterte or those whom Duterte considers as his “enemy.” Most prominent and well identified here is of course Supreme Court Chief Justice on leave, Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Even as the quo warranto petition filed against her by Solicitor General Jose Calida representing the “Government of the Republic of the Philippines” is still being litigated in the Supreme Court, the DDS have openly and contemptuously concluded or given the impression that she already lost the case. They sneer at her and attack her person particularly her actuations in the ongoing hearings of the quo warranto petition at the Supreme Court. They are trying to create animosities and antagonisms among the Justices of the Supreme Court apparently aimed at instilling bias and prejudice on the part of the SC Justices against Sereno so that she will lose the case. It is really quite sad and unfortunate that the prestige and reputation of the SC as an independent branch of the government have been debased. This is really very unfortunate because the SC is the “court of last resort” where people expect to ultimately get and obtain truth and justice. 

Apparently being overlooked and disregarded in this petition being heard by the SC, is that this petition should have been commenced within one year after the cause of Sereno’s ouster arose (Rule 87, Section 11, Rules of Court). In this case, it is undisputed that the cause of Sereno’s ouster occurred way back in 2012 when she was appointed and assumed office as Chief Justice despite the alleged lack of integrity for failure to file her Statements of Assets and Liabilities (SALN). So it is quite clear and obvious that this petition filed by the Solicitor General only at this time has long expired. On this ground alone, and even assuming that this petition is the proper remedy to remove a Chief Justice despite the express provision in our Constitution that she may be removed only by impeachment (Section 2, Article 11, Constitution), this petition for quo warranto is filed way out of time and should therefore be dismissed outright.

And as I end this piece, may I point out once more that my intention here is not to fight this administration but to promote the rule of law so that we will never go back once more and experience the ordeals of martial law during the Marcos regime.

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Email: [email protected].