Palace thanks Filipinos for Duterte’s high trust, approval ratings amid COVID-19 crisis

Malacañang on Monday thanked the Filipino people after President Rodrigo Duterte received high approval and trust scores amid the COVID-19 pandemic, adding the survey also showed the public deplores politicking.

Ninety-one percent of Filipinos approved of the performance of the President based on the September 14-20 survey of independent pollster Pulse Asia, up from the pre-pandemic score of 87% in December 2019. The same percentage (91%) of respondents expressed trust in Duterte.

“Maraming, maraming salamat po sa taumbayang Pilipino na ang trust at ang performance rating po ng ating Presidente ay napakataas at 91%,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a news conference in Boracay.

Roque said the President’s ratings indicated public rejection of politicking while the nation is dealing with the impact of the pandemic.

“Tingin ko gusto ng taumbayan na hindi namumulitika sa panahon ng pandemya. Nakikita naman nila na ginagawa ng Presidente ang lahat ng pupuwedeng gawin para mas kakaunting mga Pilipino [ang] magkakasakit ng COVID-19. Ginagawa niya ang lahat para iahon sa kahirapan ang ating mga kababayan,” he said.

“Ang panawagan po uli ng Presidente sa lahat ng pulitiko, isantabi muna natin iyan. 2022 pa po ‘yan. Tulungan natin ang ating mga kababayan,” the Palace official added.

Vice President Leni Robredo’s approval ratings, meanwhile, went down by a hairline at 57% in the latest survey from 58% in the previous one. A vocal critic of the Duterte's administration's efforts to address the pandemic, she has a 22% disapproval rating and 21% undecided rating.

The survey was conducted following the President’s decision to extend the state of calamity in the country until September 2021 and the signing of the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act which provides a COVID-19 relief package worth P165.5 billion.

Opposition Senators Franklin Drilon and Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, claimed irregularities in the procurement of COVID-19 testing kits, medical equipment, and personal protective equipment (PPE) by the Duterte administration.

Other developments regarding the alleged irregularities in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. also took place during the survey, which involved 1,200 adult Filipinos aged 18 years old and above.—AOL, GMA News