SWS: Rody’s satisfaction rating rebounds to ‘very good’

MANILA, Philippines — Public satisfaction with President Duterte rebounded by 10 points to return to “very good” territory in the fourth quarter, based on the latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The survey, conducted from Dec. 8 to 16 with the results released on Friday, showed that 71 percent of adult respondents were satisfied with the performance of the President.

Malacañang said the results were a recognition of the efforts of the Duterte administration’s economic team to ease the burden of ordinary Filipinos, highlighted by the recent enactment of new tax reform measures.

Based on the survey, 13 percent said they were dissatisfied with the administration, while the remaining 15 percent were undecided.

This gave Duterte a “very good” net public satisfaction rating of +58, up 10 points from the “good” +48 (67 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied) he obtained in September.

The net satisfaction rating is derived by subtracting the percentage of those claiming to be dissatisfied with the administration from those satisfied.

SWS classifies net trust ratings as follows: +70 and above, excellent; +50 to +69, very good; +30 to +49, good; +10 to +29, moderate; +9 to -9, neutral; -10 to -29, poor; -30 to -49, bad; -50 to -69, very bad; -70 and below, execrable.

SWS said satisfaction with Duterte increased across all geographic areas and socio-economic classes.

Net satisfaction with the President rose from “good” to “very good” in Metro Manila (from +44 in September to +55 in December), rest of Luzon (from +36 to +50) and the Visayas (from +43 to +53).

His net satisfaction rating stayed “excellent” in Mindanao, increasing by four points from +76 to +80.

He also obtained “very good” net satisfaction rating among respondents in urban (from +48 to +63) and rural areas (from +47 to +54).

Meanwhile, the President’s net satisfaction rating stayed “very good” among respondents in class ABC, up by nine points from +57 to +66.

It rose from “good” to “very good” among respondents from class D (+49 to +57) and E (+35 to +65).

Duterte also obtained “very good” net satisfaction ratings among all genders, as well as respondents in all education levels.

The survey had 1,200 respondents with a margin of error of +/- three percent for the national percentages.

While there were various factors that boosted Duterte’s ratings,  Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said more ordinary Filipinos may have appreciated the President because of the new tax reform measure’s promise of bigger take-home pay. Duterte signed the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) measure on Dec.19 or after the survey period.

“This will be of great help to the people because 99 percent of our countrymen will see their income taxes go down or removed eventually,” he said in Filipino.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the higher ratings would further encourage the administration to reach out to the people and set more reforms into motion.   –  Christina Mendez