MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) – A September 2017 survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed a drop in both the net satisfaction rating and net trust rating of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Of 1,500 adults surveyed, 67% said they were satisfied with Duterte’s performance while 19% said they were dissatisfied. The rest were undecided. That puts his net satisfaction rating at +48 or “good,” according to the SWS definition.

It’s an 18-point drop from the +66 or “very good” satisfaction rating that the President got in June 2017.

Survey respondents were asked:

“Maaari po bang pakisabi ninyo kung gaano kayo nasisiyahan o hindi nasisiyahan sa pagganap ng tungkulin ni RODRIGO DUTERTE bilang Presidente ng Pilipinas. Kayo ba ay lubos na nasisiyahan, medyo nasisiyahan, hindi tiyak kung nasisiyahan o hindi, medyo hindi nasisiyahan, lubos na hindi nasisiyahan, o wala pa kayong narinig o nabasa kahit na kailan tungkol kay RODRIGO DUTERTE?”

(“Please tell me how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with the performance of RODRIGO DUTERTE as President of the Philippines. Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, undecided if satisfied or dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, very dissatisfied, or you have not ever heard or read anything about RODRIGO DUTERTE?”)

Duterte’s net trust rating similarly went down from “excellent” in June 2017 to “very good” in September 2017. Among those surveyed, 73% said they had much trust in Duterte and 12% said they had little trust in him. The rest were undecided.

Duterte’s net trust rating in the September 2017 survey was at +60. Back in June 2017, he had a +75 net trust rating.

According to the SWS, those surveyed were asked:

“Maaari po bang sabihin ninyo kung ang pagtitiwala ninyo kay RODRIGO DUTERTE ay napakalaki, medyo malaki, hindi tiyak kung malaki o maliit, medyo maliit, napakaliit, o wala pa kayong narinig o nabasa kahit na kailan tungkol kay RODRIGO DUTERTE? Pakisabi ang sagot ninyo sa pamamagitan ng paglagay ng mga kard sa naaangkop na lugar sa rating board na ito.”

(“Please indicate if your trust/faith in RODRIGO DUTERTE is very much, somewhat much, undecided if much or little, somewhat little, very little, or you have not heard or read anything about RODRIGO DUTERTE ever? You may indicate your answers by placing each card on the appropriate box on this rating board.”)

“The 18-point decline in President Duterte’s net satisfaction rating amid the 15-point decline in his net trust rating, between June and September 2017, resulted from the declines in his net satisfaction ratings among both those with much trust and those with little trust in him,” said the SWS in its analysis.

It also noted that Duterte’s net satisfaction rating went down from excellent to very good among those who also said they had “much trust” in him. It was +79 in June 2017 and +69 in September 2017.

Among those with little trust in him, his net satisfaction rating went down too from neutral to poor.

The net satisfaction rating among those who were undecided in trusting or not trusting the President remained unchanged.

Survey breakdown

Duterte’s net satisfaction rating dropped everywhere in the country, except in Mindanao, according to the SWS. The drop was highest in the Visayas at 30 points, followed by 22 points in Balance Luzon and 19 points in Metro Manila. It remained unchanged, at +76 or “excellent” in Mindanao, where Duterte comes from. He was Davao City mayor for nearly two decades.

His net satisfaction among urban areas fell 20 points from +68 in June 2017 to +48 in September 2017. Among rural areas, it also went from “very good” to “good.” In June 2017, Duterte had a +63 net satisfaction rating. By September 2017, it was at +47, a 16-point drop.

Net satisfaction among Class ABC remained “very good” from June 2017 to September 2017, although it went down 2 points, from +59 to +57.

It dropped, however, among Classes D and E or the country’s poorest. It went down 17 points from +66 to +49 for Class D and dropped 32 points from +67 to +35 for Class E.

The survey was conducted from September 23 to 27, a few days after thousands of Filipinos held protests and various events to mark the 45th anniversary of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of martial law. Protesters also expressed alarm over the killings linked to Duterte’s drug war.

A week prior to this, the House – which is dominated by a Duterte-allied “supermajority” – decided to slash the Commission on Human Rights’ 2018 budget to a mere P1,000. The move was met by intense criticism both online and offline. It was restored – albeit cut by over P100 million – by September 20.

Around the time the survey was conducted, Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano was in the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly. There, he defended Duterte’s bloody and controversial drug war. (READ: At U.N., Cayetano bloats number of drug users to 7 million)

In the SWS survey, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao were represented by 300 respondents each. Balance Luzon, meanwhile, was represented by 600 respondents. The margins of error were at ±2.5 for national percentages, ±4 for Balance Luzon, and ±6 for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao. – Rappler.com