Palace welcomes satisfaction rating on government

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang welcomed yesterday the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey from Sept. 27 to 30 of this year, which revealed that 78 percent of adult Filipinos are satisfied with government performance under the Duterte administration.

Despite a dip in the ratings, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo still believes that a great majority of the Filipino people have once again expressed satisfaction with the performance of President Duterte.

“The rating, classified by the independent pollster as very good, demonstrates that a significant number of our countrymen possesses discernment that can stand and see beyond the endless politicking managed by the opposition, as well as the rhetorical aspersions peddled by the President’s detractors, critics and skeptics,” he said.

Of 1,800 Filipino adults surveyed for the third quarter, the SWS said 77 percent were satisfied with the national government’s general performance, 11 percent were undecided and 10 percent were dissatisfied.

This yielded a +67 net satisfaction rating, six points lower than the record high +73 the administration achieved in the previous quarter. The pollster attributed the lower rating to the declines in satisfaction in Mindanao, balance Luzon and the Visayas.

The Office of the President noted that the satisfaction rating Filipinos gave on the subjects helping the poor, providing information needed by the citizens to properly examine what the government is doing and having clear policies are the highest. This signifies the people’s acknowledgement of the President’s genuine empathy, transparency and decisiveness. 

Panelo noted that while the satisfaction ratings of the President starting from his assumption to the presidency are incomparable to his predecessors, he could not care less about these scores because for him the true measure of proper governance and public service is accomplishing the job entrusted by the electorate without expecting any reward for it.