Nearly half of Pinoys believe Duterte has health problems – SWS

Nearly half of adult Filipinos, or 45 percent of them, believe President Rodrigo Duterte has health problems, a third quarter Social Weather Stations poll found.

Meanwhile, 26 percent do not believe the president has health problems, while 29 percent were undecided.

Among those who thought Duterte has health problems, 17 percent strongly believe so, while 28 percent somewhat believe it.

Net belief (percent that believed minus percent that did not believe) that the president has health problems was highest in Metro Manila at +31 (53 percent believe minus 23 percent not believe).

This was followed by Balance Luzon at +21 (45 percent believe, 24 percent do not believe), then the Visayas at +14 (45 percent believe, 31 percent do not believe), and Mindanao at +12 (39 percent believe, 27 percent do not believe).

Net belief that the president has health problems was higher in urban areas (+29), compared to rural areas (+12).

It was higher in social classes D (+21) and ABC (+19), compared to class E (+8).

It was also higher among high school (+27) and college graduates (+27), rather than non-elementary (+14) and elementary graduates (+8).

Worried over health

The poll also found the 55 percent were worried the president would have health problems, with 18 percent of them were worried a great deal and 38 percent were somewhat worried.

Of the 44 percent who were not worried that the president would have health problems, 22 percent were not too worried, while 23 percent were not worried at all.

The proportion of those who worried that Duterte would have health problems (percent worried a great and percent somewhat worried) was highest in Mindanao at 61 percent. In Metro Manila it was 59 percent, 53 percent in Balance Luzon, and 51 percent in the Visayas.

Also, the SWS found that half to a majority across socioeconomic classes, ranging from 48 percent to 61 percent, worry that Duterte would have health problems.

Health as a public matter

A majority of those polled, 61 percent specifically, believe that Duterte's health is a public matter and that public needed to be informed about it. Thirty-three percent meanwhile said that the president's health is a private matter and the public need not be informed about it.

The proportion of those who said the president’s health was a public matter was highest in the Visayas at 65 percent, followed by Mindanao at 63 percent, Balance Luzon at 59 percent, and Metro Manila at 58 percent.

Across socioeconomic classes, those who believed Duterte's health was a public matter ranged from  57 percent to 68 percent.

The third quarter poll on President Duterte's health was taken from September 15 to September 23, 2018 using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults nationwide. The poll had  sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages; ±4 percent for Balance Luzon; and ±6 percent for Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao. — DVM, GMA News