Duterte most appreciated gov't official – Pulse Asia survey

President Rodrigo R. Duterte is the most appreciated government official, results of a survey by Pulse Asia Research Inc. last June showed.

According to Pulse Asia's "Ulat ng Bayan" Survey, the President Duterte scored an approval rating of 82 percent, the highest among the top government officials covered by the survey.

The nationwide poll was based on a sampling of 1,200 representative adults – 18 years old and above – and had a ± 3 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level, according to the pollster.

Out of all the respondents, 13 percent were undecided about Duterte's performance, while 5 percent disapproved the President's performance, the survey showed.

Across geographic locations, Duterte scored 80 percent in the National Capital Region (up 7 percent from a separate survey in March), 75 percent in Luzon (up 4 percent), and 95 percent in his bailiwick Mindanao (up 7 percent).

However, there was a drop in the President's approval ratings in the Visayas where he scored 84 percent, down 2 percent from 86 percent in March.

In terms of demographic classes, Duterte scored the highest from the Class E at 84 percent, and the Class D at 82 percent.

He scored lower in the Class ABC, where his approval rating dropped 7 percent to 79 percent from 86 percent in the March survey.

Another survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in May said Duterte maintained "excellent" trust ratings from Filipinos.

In the latest Pulse Asia survey, respondents were also "appreciative" of other government officials.

"Most Filipinos remain appreciative of the performance of President Rodrigo R. Duterte (82 percent), Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo (61 percent) and Senate President Aquilino L. Pimentel III (62 percent)," it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez garnered an approval rating of 43 percent and Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno an approval rating of 48 percent.

"[T]he only significant changes in the performance ratings of the leading national government officials are recorded by Senate President Pimentel," Pulse Asia said.

"The lawmaker experiences an increase of 7 percentage points in his overall approval rating while his national indecision figure drops by the same margin," it added.

The survey was conducted on June 24 to 29, a month after Duterte declared martial law and suspended the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao as clashes between the government troops and the ISIS-linked Maute group erupted on May 23. — VDS, GMA News