More Filipinos are opposed to the idea of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declaring a revolutionary government, according to a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
Based on the survey results released Friday, January 12, 39 percent of Filipinos opposed the proposal to establish a revolutionary government, while 31 percent supported it. The remaining 30 percent said they were undecided about the issue.
This results in a net agreement score of -8 percent against revolutionary government.
The opposition was highest in Balance Luzon at 46 percent, followed by the Visayas at 43 percent, Metro Manila at 39 percent, and Mindanao at 21 percent.
In Balance Luzon, only 30 percent said they supported it, posing a net score of -16 against revolutionary government.
Having a respective net score of -17 and -7 against revolutionary government, the opposition is also strong in Visayas and Metro Manila. Only 26 percent in the Visayas and 31 percent in Metro Manila said they backed the proposal.
On the other hand, more respondents in Mindanao expressed support towards a revolutionary government at 38 percent, resulting in a net score of +16 in favor of the proposition.
According to SWS director for sampling and data processing Gerardo Sandoval, the same survey also showed that the creation of revolutionary government gained little support even from those who expressed much trust in and satisfaction with Duterte’s performance.
Results showed that the support for a revolutionary government posted a neutral score of only +1 and +2 from Filipinos who have much trust and were satisfied with Duterte’s performance respectively.
“In terms of one aspect, they could be satisfied and supportive, but in terms of other aspects being pushed by the president, it does not get much support,” Sandoval said in a press briefing.
“Hindi automatic na (It’s not automatic that) if you are satisfied and if you trust the person, lahat ng ipu-push niya ay susuportahan (everything he will push for will get support). Of course, it would depend on what issue is being pushed by the leader,” he added.
The SWS survey was conducted from December 8 to 16, 2017 among 1,200 respondents nationwide using face-to-face interviews. It has a margin of error of ±3 percent nationwide, ±4 percent for Luzon, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao.
In a previous speech, Duterte warned of declaring a revolutionary government if things have gone “out of control” and if the government was at risk of being overthrown violently.
“If things go out of control and [the] government is weakened—that is my predicate,” the president said in November last year.
He added, “If my country is weakened and I see revolutionaries bringing firearms on the streets, well, maybe you shouldn’t have second thoughts, I will declare a revolutionary government.”
Duterte, however, later backtracked on the idea, saying he would not declare a revolutionary government after the military expressed that it would not support his plan.
