SWS: 48% expect Duterte to fulfill most promises

MANILA, Philippines — Slightly less than half or 48 percent of the population expect President Duterte to fulfill most if not all of his promises, a recent survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The survey, conducted from Dec. 16 to 19 with the results released on Friday, showed the figure was slightly higher than the 46 percent obtained in the most recent survey in March 2018.

The latest survey result was 13 points higher than Duterte’s personal low of 35 percent in September 2017, but is still lower than the 63 percent he obtained in June 2016 just weeks after his election.

Meanwhile, the number of those who expect fulfillment of only a few promises of Duterte dropped to 46 percent last month from 49 percent in March 2018. Those who expect that he will not be able to fulfill most of his promises slightly increased from five to six percent.

In the first survey conducted after his election in 2016, only 32 percent thought that the President would be able to fulfill only a few of his promises, while only one percent believed he would not be able to fulfill anything at all.

Based on the survey, expectation that the President would be able to fulfill most if not all of his promises rose seven points in urban areas, from 46 percent in March 2018 to 53 percent in December 2018. It hardly changed in rural areas, moving from 46 percent to 45 percent.

Expectation also rose by eight points in the Visayas (from 38 percent to 46 percent) and balance Luzon (from 44 percent to 49 percent), while it fell in Mindanao (from 60 percent to 50 percent) and Metro Manila (from 42 percent to 41 percent).

By class, it rose among respondents identified with class E (from 34 percent to 52 percent) and ABC (from 49 percent to 56 percent), while it fell among those belonging to class D (from 49 percent to 46 percent).

SWS said expectations also slightly rose among both genders, across all educational levels and among the 35-44 and 55+ age groups.

The survey had 1,440 adult respondents and sampling error margins of +/-2.6 percent for national percentages.