DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Progressive organizations belittled the recent Social Weather Station Survey showing favorable ratings for the Duterte administration.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers, which complained of police surveillance among its members, said the Duterte administration “is good in managing the President’s public image using popular issues mainly the war on drugs”.
“Maintaining a relatively high satisfaction rating is a product of how the administration uses the social media and government agencies like the PCOO (Presidential Communication and Operations Office), manipulation of traditional mass media and intimidation to critical news outlets in ensuring the President’s popularity,” Representative Antonio Tinio said.
“Surveys may be superficial because of the clear dissatisfaction of the people in the inadequacy in the delivery of social services”, Rep. France Castro added.
They said issues such as extrajudicial killings, the tax reform law and increased prices of basic commodities and human rights violations have an impact on the President’s satisfaction rating.
But it said this did not show in the survey.
Rather, the SWS survey reported a 16 point increase in the net satisfaction rating of the Duterte administration for the fourth quarter of 2018.
The fourth quarter survey shows a net trust rating of +66, classified as very good. This was an increase from the very good +50 in September 2018.
The December 2018 survey found that 76 percent of adult Filipinos were satisfied, 15 percent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and 9 percent were dissatisfied with the general performance of the current administration.
In the SWS Governance Report, the net satisfaction rating of the administration was excellent on Promoting women’s rights (+71) and Building and maintenance of public works (+70).
The item on public satisfaction with the general performance of the National Administration and its performance on specific subjects have sampling error margins of 2.6 percent for national average, and 5 percent each for Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The survey conducted a face-to-face interview with 1,440 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 360 each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
Survey findings present an increase in points in the following areas: +75 in Mindanao from +67, +63 in Visayas from +42,+60 from Metro Manila from +20 and +65 from +48 in balance Luzon.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo in a statement said that the survey results demonstrated an “unshakeable trust ” of the Filipino people on President Duterte and his government. (davaotoday.com)
