Malacañang ‘grateful’ for continued trust in Duterte despite a drop in ratings

Malacañang on Friday, April 27, thanked Filipinos for their confidence in President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership.

This comes after the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showing a majority of Filipinos continue to trust the president despite the “unending criticisms and attacks” against him.

Based on the poll, three in every four — or 76 percent of Filipinos — have “much trust” in the president; 10 percent have little trust in him, while the remaining 14 percent are undecided.

Results showed that Duterte earned a net trust rating of “very good” +65 for the first quarter of 2018. This, however, is a 10-point decline from his previous “excellent” + 75  rating in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Commenting on the survey, Palace Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said the Duterte administration is “grateful for our people’s vote of confidence with significant trust in the President, amid being subject to unending criticisms and attacks.”

“Rest assured that the president will continue to steer the ship of state until we reach a drug-free destination where the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals would be strong and resilient so Filipinos could lead comfortable lives,” he added.

The poll result, which was released on Thursday, April 26, showed that Duterte’s net trust rating eroded in all areas.

In both Visayas and Mindanao, the president’s net trust rating remained “excellent” but was down by six points (from +76 in December 2017 to +70 in March 2018) and five points (from +98 to +89) respectively.

Duterte’s trust rating suffered the most in Metro Manila, where it fell one grade from “excellent”  +73 to “very good” +62.

In Balance Luzon, his trust rating dropped by three points (from +56 to +53) but remained “very good.”

“We welcome the latest [SWS] survey showing a +65 net trust rating for President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, which the polling firm classified as “very good” and described as similar to the “very good” +60 in September 2017,” Roque said.

The SWS survey was conducted last month using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide. It has sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.