Amid Duterte ratings dip among lower class, gov't exec says drug war good for the poor

Amid a dip in President Rodrigo Duterte's trust rating among the poor in a recent Pulse Asia survey, the head of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor maintained that the drug war at the centerpiece of the administration would be beneficial for poor communities.

In a briefing in Malacañang, PCUP chairman Terry Ridon was asked if the dip in Duterte's rating could be attributed to the drug war, which critics have tagged as a "war on the poor" because it targeted suspects in urban poor communities.

"I think in respect to the drug war, it is in the interest of the poor and the urban poor to really see that criminality and the drug problem is resolved within their communities. And I think, obviously it is unfortunate that several of the people in the poor communities are affected by it," he said.

"But I think within these communities, if you go to those areas, there would be at the very least an affirmation that responding to criminality and the drug problem is really a very important step towards nation-building," he added.

In the Pulse Asia poll, Duterte’s trust rating from Class E dropped by 11 points, from 85 percent in December last year to 74 percent in March. His trust rating from Class D dropped by 7 points, from 83 percent in December last year to 76 percent in March. 

His overall trust rating decreased by seven percentage points, from 83 percent in December last year to 76 percent in March.

For its part, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the administration was unfazed by the ratings dip.

“As a whole, the President has actually positioned himself as a pro-poor leader. So in a sense, it’s a question of being able to dialogue with the whole nation regarding the matter,”  told reporters in a briefing.

Ridon said it’s more important to assess whether or not the Duterte administration has fulfilled its promises to the poor.

"Well, I think at this point, very important would be the question on whether or not we had been able to deliver already the promises to the poor. And I think this is something that is still a work in progress and many of the line agencies are actually doing their job," he said.

When asked whether the administration should tweak its approach to the drug problem, Ridon said there are already efforts to address the issue in a holistic manner.

"I think many of the agencies, even in particular the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, has been trying to implement particularly, particular interventions in respect to the demand side of the drug problem. So PCUP has launched ‘Urban Poor Kontra Droga’ in several cities already and this really aims to provide the softer approach towards the drug war. And I think this is something that many of the line agencies would really want to undertake already," he said. —JST, GMA News