PRESIDENT Rodrigo was still the most approved and trusted Philippine official in the country in September, but his ratings dropped based on the results of a Pulse Asia survey.
The survey, which was conducted from September 16 to 22, showed that Duterte's approval rating went down by seven percentage points while his trust score fell by 11 percentage points.
Only 74 percent trusted Duterte while 78 percent approved of his work performance in the third quarter of 2019, according to the survey.
Pulse Asia's survey was conducted amid the Senate investigation into the controversial early release of heinous crime convicts and the supposed involvement of some police officers in illegal drugs.
Pulse Asia noted that the approval and trust ratings of Vice President Leni Robredo also went down by five percentage points (50 percent from 55 percent) and six percentage points (46 percent from 52 percent), respectively.
Senate President Vicente Sotto II's approval and trust scores also declined by five percentage points (72 percent from 77 percent) and seven percentage points (66 percent from 73 percent), respectively.
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano registered a 64 percent approval rating and a 62 percent trust rating, while outgoing Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin received approval and trust scores of 42 percent and 34 percent, respectively.
Sought for his reaction, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said he considered Duterte's approval and trust ratings as "still high."
"The rating is still high, it's more than 70 percent. Surveys flactuate depending on when they get them. If it is taken at the time when there are controversies hounding, it may affect the survey results. The fact remains that 70 percent plus remains still high," he said in a press conference.
Pulse Asia interviewed 1,200 adult Filipinos, using an error margin of ±2.8 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
Subnational estimates for each of Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao have a ±5.7 percentage points error margin at 95 percent confidence level. (SunStar Philippines)