Executive Order (EO) Number 47, series of 2023, issued by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to grant amnesty to known rebel organizations and leftist parties, received the lowest approval among Filipinos, according to the Pahayag End of Year (P-EOY2023) survey.
Conducted from November 29 to December 4, 2023, the survey revealed that only 45 percent of respondents approved of EO No. 47, making it the least favored initiative of the administration.
In the executive order, Marcos cited Section 19, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, granting amnesty to various rebel and insurgent groups, pending concurrence by a majority of all Congress members.
Reynaldo Pardillo, Davao City Division President of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT-Davao), underscored the need to inform the public about the purpose behind the EO.
He noted that the lack of understanding about its intentions might contribute to its low approval rating.
“Ang tendency murag wala na-educate ang mga tao nga what is the reason behind ngano mag amnesty, unya murag untimely kaayo paghatag siguro sa survey nga ing-ana ka daghana kay mura’g dili kaayo kalat ang pagahatag ana nga survey (There's a tendency for people to lack understanding about the reasons behind the amnesty. Surveying this scale seems untimely, as the respondents' distribution appears concentrated rather than widespread),” Pardillo said.
On the other hand, 24-year-old freelancer Stephen Angeles expressed his agreement with those disapproving of the executive order.
He raised concerns about the potential infiltration of communist and leftist ideologies into the Philippine government, believing that granting amnesty might lead these individuals to revert to their previous actions, opposing the government's goals.
Alongside EO No. 47, opinions varied regarding the proposed hiring of unlicensed nurses as nursing aides and the revival of investigations into extrajudicial killings (EJKs) from the previous Duterte administration, receiving approval degrees of 46 percent and 47 percent, respectively.
The Pahayag 2023 End of the Year study (P-EOY2023) was an independent study conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc.
Utilizing purposive sampling, the survey included 1,500 respondents randomly selected from a market research panel of over 200,000 Filipinos managed by PureSpectrum, a global panel marketplace headquartered in the United States and with offices in Singapore.
The sample focused on registered Filipino voters tracked by PureSpectrum. DEF