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Pinoys most disapproving of gov’t COVID-19 response in Southeast Asia — survey


Filipinos are the most disapproving of their government’s COVID-19 pandemic response in Southeast Asia, a survey revealed on Wednesday.

In a survey conducted by Singapore-based ASEAN Studies Centre, 53.7 percent of its Philippine respondents were not in favor of the Duterte administration’s response to the ongoing health crisis.

The 53.7 percent consists of 17.9 percent who said they "strongly disapproved" and 35.8 percent who said they "disapproved" of how the government is handling the pandemic.

Another 20.9 percent were neutral on the topic, while 19.4 percent "approved."

Only 6.0 percent said they "strongly approved" of the measures and actions taken by the government to stem the spread of the disease, which has claimed 11,401 lives in the Philippines so far.

Indonesia followed with a 50.4 percent disapproval versus 24.1 percent approval and 25.6 percent neutral.

Vietnam, meanwhile, recorded the highest approval rating in the region at 96.6 percent, followed by Brunei at 93.9 percent and Singapore at 92.4 percent.

Research and development

A large majority of the Filipinos who took the survey, or 72.2 percent, said there is a need to encourage more scientists and medical doctors to “contribute to public policy discussions” and for the government to “heed their advice.”

Some 58.3 percent said the government should invest in early warning systems for pandemic outbreak, as well as research and development for virus testing and vaccine development.

Moreover, 33.3 percent said the government should offer better financial relief and subsidies to citizens impacted economically by the health crisis, while 30.6 percent said politicians and public servants should “observe public health measures, instead of flouting them.”

Some 5.6 percent also said the government should better implement public health measures such as social distancing and wearing face masks.

Leadership rating

Overall, 32.7 percent of Southeast Asian respondents chose Singapore as the country that has provided the best leadership to ASEAN when it comes to handling the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by Vietnam at 31.1 percent.

Only 0.5 percent of the total respondents chose the Philippines on this issue.

Further, the health crisis also came out as the top challenge respondents believe the region is facing, followed by unemployment and economic recession and widening socio-economic gaps and rising income disparity.

For Philippine respondents, 80.6 percent said the COVID-19 pandemic is the top challenge, followed by unemployment and recession at 65.7 percent, and more intense and frequent weather events at 59.7 percent.

Some 37.3 percent answered increased military tensions arising from potential flashpoints such as in the South China Sea, and 28.4 percent said widening socio-economic gaps and rising income disparity.

Only 3.0 percent of the Filipino respondents answered terrorism, 11.9 percent said domestic political instability, and 13.4 percent on the deterioration of human rights conditions.

A total of 1,032 respondents from 10 ASEAN member states participated in the online survey which drew from five categories of affiliation: academia/research, business/finance, government civil-society/non-governmental/media, and regional/international organizations.

The survey was held from November 18, 2020 to January 10, 2021. — BM, GMA News

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