Duterte admin still enjoys ‘very good’ satisfaction ratings —SWS poll

The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte continues to enjoy "very good" satisfaction ratings, based on the latest survey of Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The results of the survey, conducted from September 23 to September 27 among 1,500 respondents nationwide, said 71 percent of Filipinos remained satisfied with the performance of the government, having a net satisfaction rating of +58.

The SWS showed that 13 percent were not satisfied while 16 percent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

The rating was six points below the "very good" +64 in June 2017. The drop was due to declines of 16 points in Metro Manila and 11 points in Balance Luzon, combined with increases of 2 points in Mindanao and 1 point in the Visayas.

Duterte administration's rating in Mindanao stayed "excellent," which got +74 in the latest survey, up by two points from +72 in June.

In Balance Luzon, Visayas and Metro Manila, the administration got "very good" ratings, earning +52, +57 and +51 net satisfaction ratings, respectively.

The survey also asked respondents to rate the government on some national issues.

The issues where the national government got "very good" marks were protecting the government, helping the poor, defending the country's territorial rights, and providing jobs.

Issues which got "good" ratings include reconciling with Muslim rebels, reconciling with communist rebels, fighting terrorism, foreign relations, fighting crime, eradicating graft and corruption, distributing lands to deserving tillers under land reform, protecting human rights and fighting crimes.

The issue on protecting human rights, having a +46 net satisfaction ratings, was nine points below the very good +55 in June.

The Duterte administration became the target of local and international human rights group amid the rising number of deaths related to its war on illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, SWS said issues such as recovering the ''hidden wealth'' stolen by Marcos and his cronies, resolving the traffic problem, ensuring that no family will ever be hungry, solving the problem of extrajudicial killings or EJK and fighting inflation got "moderate" ratings.

The SWS pointed out that the moderate +22 on the problem of extrajudicial killings or EJK was 12 points below the good +34 in June.

The government also earned the negative perception of the public due to the alleged extrajudicial killings under the anti-drug campaign.

The SWS said the sampling distribution was 600 in Balance Luzon, and 300 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao with sampling error margins of ±2.5% for national percentages, ±4% for Balance Luzon, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

SWS uses the following scale for its terminology for net satisfaction ratings: +70 and above, "excellent"; +50 to +69, "very good"; +30 to +49, "good"; +10 to +29, "moderate", +9 to -9, "neutral"; -10 to -29, "poor"; -30 to -49, "bad"; -50 to -69, "very bad"; -70 and below, "execrable". SWS considers the movement from one classification to another as either an "upgrade" or "downgrade." —KBK, GMA News