SWS: Government rating still ‘very good’ despite drop

MANILA, Philippines — While public satisfaction with the national government remained in “very good” territory, it has dropped to its record-low under the administration of President Duterte, according to Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The net public satisfaction rating of “very good” +50 was down eight points from the “very good” +58 (72 percent satisfied, 13 percent dissatisfied, correctly rounded) obtained in the previous survey in June.

The net satisfaction rating is the rounded off difference between those who said they are satisfied and those dissatisfied with the performance of the national government.

SWS classifies net satisfaction ratings of at least +70 as “excellent”; +50 to +69 as “very “good”; +30 to +49 as “good”; +10 to +29 as “moderate”; +9 to -9 as “neutral”; -10 to -29 as “poor”; -30 to -49 as “bad”; -50 to -69 as “very bad”; and -70 and below as “execrable.”

SWS data showed that the +58 public satisfaction rating of the government, which was also obtained in September 2017 and March 2018, was the previous record-low under the present administration.

The third quarter survey, conducted from Sept. 15 to 23 with the results published on Friday night, showed that 65 percent of adult Filipinos are satisfied with the government.

Fifteen percent are dissatisfied, while 19 percent said they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Public satisfaction with the entire government dropped in the third quarter even as the same survey showed an increase in public satisfaction with Duterte, whose rating rebounded from “good” +45 in June to “very good” +54.

By area, class

Based on the survey results, public satisfaction with the national government has dropped across all geographic areas and socio-economic classes.

It fell the most among respondents in the Visayas (from +56 to +42), followed by those from Mindanao (from +76 to +67), Metro Manila (from +47 to +40) and the rest of Luzon (from +54 to +48).

Public satisfaction with the government significantly dropped by 34 points among class ABC respondents, from +81 to +47, while it dropped from +56 to +50 and from +62 to +49 among classes D and E, respectively.

The survey also showed that public satisfaction dropped among men and women and across all age groups and level of education attainment.

Specific issues

While the overall public satisfaction in the government dropped in the recent survey, satisfaction on how the government addresses certain issues improved in September compared to the survey conducted in June.

Out of 15 specific issues included in the SWS survey, public satisfaction improved in five that were classified in the “very good” territory, including: building and maintenance of public works (+62 to +66), helping the poor (+54 to +63), reconstructing Marawi (+55 to +58), protecting human rights (+48 to +54) and fighting terrorism (+39 to +53).

Public satisfaction on seven issues in the “good” rating also increased: fighting crimes (+37 to +43), reconciling with communist rebels (+27 to +42), reconciling with Muslim rebels (+31 to +41), foreign relations (+39 to +40), defending sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (+20 to +39) and eradicating graft and corruption (+30 to +38).

The issue that reflected decrease in public satisfaction was the government’s action in ensuring that no family will ever be hungry, which dropped from +39 to +23.

Meanwhile, government’s efforts to fight inflation still has the lowest public satisfaction rating, although it improved from -1 to +8.

The survey had 1,200 respondents and an error margin of +/- three percent.

Reactions

Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday advised Duterte to ignore the results of surveys on his satisfaction rating as well as his administration and just do what he believes is right for the country.

Sotto said there is no reason for the President to be concerned about these ratings especially since he is not eligible to run for reelection anyway.

What is important, Sotto said, is for Duterte to remain focused on what he is doing and not on what people think about him.

“If I were the President, I would not be concerned about this. You elected me to this position and I will just do my job no matter who I run over along the way as long as I believe what I am doing is right,” Sotto said.

He said some of Duterte’s predecessors ended up being affected by these surveys and let these influence their decisions.

For his part, Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said he gives more importance to the net rating from Class E, “as they are the majority in the country.”

“We always account this on the core economic policies of the Duterte administration that failed to realize genuine agrarian reform, rural development, end to contractualization of labor, increase wages,” Casilao said.

“Instead, (Duterte) pushed through with the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law and now price shocks are worst-hitting the poorest sectors such as the 6.4 percent and 6.7 percent inflation rates, for August and September, respectively,” he added.

Casilao predicted that Duterte’s rating would go down further. – Marvin Sy, Jess Diaz