MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte’s net satisfaction and trust ratings suffered double-digit drops in the third quarter of the year amid criticisms over his brutal war on drugs, the third quarter survey of Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
Six in 10 Filipinos or 67 percent of adult Filipinos said they were satisfied with Duterte while 19 percent were dissatisfied, resulting in a net satisfaction score of “good” +48.
The remaining 14 percent of 1,500 respondents were undecided, the pollster said.
These were the biggest drops in Duterte’s ratings since he assumed power. SWS gave no explanation for the fall, but the survey was taken amid criticism of the recent killings of teenagers related to the war on drugs.
The uncommissioned poll was conducted nationwide from Sept. 23 to 27, using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults 18 years old and above.
Duterte’s latest net satisfaction rating was 18 points below the “very good” +66 he obtained in June (78 percent satisfied, 12 percent dissatisfied) last June.
His net trust rating fell 15 points to a “very good” +60 (73 percent with much trust, 12 percent with little trust) from an “excellent” +75 (82 percent much trust, seven percent little trust) in June.
The SWS classifies net satisfaction and net trust ratings as +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.”
Duterte’s net satisfaction rating from June to September fell by 30 points in the Visayas, 22 points in balance Luzon, and 19 points in Metro Manila, while it was steady in his home region Mindanao.
It stayed “excellent” in Mindanao, at +76 (82 percent satisfied, six percent dissatisfied) in September, hardly moving from +75 (83 percent satisfied, eight percent dissatisfied) in June.
However, it dropped by two grades from excellent to good in the Visayas, at +43 (64 percent satisfied, 21 percent dissatisfied), down by 30 points from +73 (83 percent satisfied, 10 percent dissatisfied).
It fell by one grade from very good to good in balance Luzon, at +36 (59 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied) in September, down by 22 points from +58 (73 percent satisfied, 15 percent dissatisfied) in June.
It also fell by a grade from very good to good in Metro Manila, at +44 (68 percent satisfied, 24 percent dissatisfied), down by 19 points from +63 (77 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied) in June.
In urban areas, it fell by one grade from very good to good, at +48 (68 percent satisfied, 20 percent dissatisfied) in the third quarter, down by 20 points from +68 (79 percent satisfied, 11 percent dissatisfied) in June.
Rural net satisfaction also fell by a grade from very good to good, at +47 (65 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied), down by 16 points from +63 (77 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied).
With regard to socio-economic class, the President’s net satisfaction rating stayed very good in class ABC, at +57 (70 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied), down by two points from +59 (65 percent satisfied, six percent dissatisfied) in June.
However, it plunged by one grade from very good to good in class D or the masa, at +49 (68 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied), 17 points below his +66 (78 percent satisfied, 12 percent dissatisfied) score in June.
It also dropped by one grade from very good to good in class E, at +35 (61 percent satisfied, 26 percent dissatisfied), down by 32 points from +67 (80 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied) in June.
Duterte’s net satisfaction rating fell by a grade from very good to good among men, at +49 (68 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied), 14 points down from +63 (77 percent satisfied, 14 percent dissatisfied) in the second quarter.
It also fell by one grade from very good to good among women, at +46 (65 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied), down 23 points from +69 (79 percent satisfied, 11 percent dissatisfied).
The President obtained “very good” net satisfaction rating among 25-34 and 45-54, and good among all other age groups.
Duterte’s net satisfaction rating stayed very good among 25-34 year olds, at +53 (70 percent satisfied, 17 percent dissatisfied) in September, although down by 14 points from +67 (79 percent satisfied, 11 percent dissatisfied) in June.
It also stayed very good among 45-54 year olds, at +53 (70 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied), despite a 5-point drop from +58 (75 percent satisfied, 16 percent dissatisfied) in June.
It dropped by one grade from very good to good among those 55 years old and older, at +45 (64 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied) in September, down by 23 points from +68 (78 percent satisfied, 10 percent dissatisfied) in June.
It fell by one grade from very good to good among 35-44 year olds, at +45 (66 percent satisfied, 21 percent dissatisfied) in September, down by 27 points from +72 (82 percent satisfied, 10 percent dissatisfied) in June.
It was down by one grade from very good to good among 18-24 year olds, at +40 (63 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied) in September, down by 19 points from +59 (75 percent satisfied, 16 percent dissatisfied) in June.
Duterte’s net satisfaction rating remained very good among high school graduates, at +56 (72 percent satisfied, 16 percent dissatisfied) in June 2017, despite the six-point drop from +62 (75 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied) in June.
It fell by two grades from excellent to good among college graduates, at +48 (67 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied) in September, down by 28 points from +76 (83 percent satisfied, eight percent dissatisfied) in June.
It was down one grade from very good to good among elementary school graduates, at +38 (61 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied) in September, down by 28 points from +66 (79 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied) in June.
It also dropped by one grade from very good to good among non-elementary school graduates, at +41 (61 percent satisfied, 20 percent dissatisfied) in September, down by 27 points from +68 (80 percent satisfied, 12 percent dissatisfied) in June.
The survey has sampling error margins of plus or minus 2.5 percent for national percentages.
‘Heed survey on EJKs’
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said the latest results of the SWS survey on extrajudicial killings (EJKs) should be heeded by the government.
The CHR said there was a growing awareness among the public that the drug war was becoming a war on the poor, with “mostly poor drug suspects being killed” while rich and powerful suspects are getting spared.
“With the Philippine National Police’s pronouncement that there is no single case of extrajudicial killing under the current administration, the CHR insists that EJK encompasses any killing by government forces as well as killings by any other groups or individuals which the government fails to investigate, prosecute and punish when it is in a position to do so, as defined by former UN special rapporteur Philip Alston,” the CHR said in a statement.
“Limiting the definition of EJK based only on a focused operational definition provided in the Administrative Order 35 would discount killings that are also perpetrated by state agents and non-state actors that remain uninvestigated,” it said.
The CHR noted that thousands of deaths have been reported to be committed by both vigilante and police personnel during anti-illegal drug operations. – With Rainier Allan Ronda