Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 9) — Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa on Monday apologized to the public for its performance following the 18-point drop in President Rodrigo Duterte’s satisfaction rating.
“Pasensya lang kung hindi medyo satisfied ang publiko ngayon (Apologies if the public are dissatisfied). We will improve, we will improve. Promise,” Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa’s apology comes after private pollster Social Weather Stations said the President’s net satisfaction rating slumped to +48 or “good” last September from +66 or “very good” in June 2017.
Duterte’s net trust ratings, meanwhile, also declined from +75 or “excellent” in June, to +60 or “very good” in September– a 15-point drop.
Malacañang said the drop in the satisfaction and trust ratings of the President is “expected” as the people are now “managing their expectations” since President Rodrigo Duterte’s honeymoon period is now over.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, in a press briefing Monday, said the survey was conducted a few days after the National Day of Protest on September 21 and this event may have also affected the results of the poll commissioned by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
“(Surveys) are snapshots of the public mood at a given time, and the SWS survey was conducted bet September 23 and 27… The bold PRRD initiative, allowing the citizens to vent their grievances about the excesses and shortcomings of the government, and some sentiments may have spilled over,” Abella said.
READ: Duterte’s satisfaction, trust ratings go down – SWS
Senator Win Gatchalian echoed the same sentiments, and said historically, presidents usually experience a dip in trust and approval rating after a year in office.
“It’s just a part of the cycle of politics, and it shouldn’t be a cause for concern in Malacañang. What is clear in the survey results is that the Filipino people continue to trust the President and approve of his performance, despite the ratings dip,” Gatchalian said in a statement.
For the opposition, however, the dip in the trust and satisfaction ratings indicates that the public “are beginning to see the light,” and should “serve as a warning.”
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the President’s staunchest critics, said succeeding surveys “are expected to be worse” since the poll was conducted before the Ombudsman “confirmed Duterte’s billion peso bank deposits.”
“They are now seeing Duterte for who he really is: a lying, rude, amoral, corrupt and oppressive former mayor who is totally incompetent about governance at the national level. Worse, his bloody war on drugs has killed thousands of his own people and created a climate of fear across the country,” Trillanes said.
Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang said on September 28 that they will probe on the Presidential family’s wealth, in response to a plunder complaint filed by Trillanes during the 2016 elections.
READ: Palace: Duterte unfazed by Ombudsman’s probe on wealth
Another opposition, Senator Risa Hontiveros, said Duterte’s “authoritarian style of governance is losing its appeal and support among the public.”
“President Duterte has no choice but to go back to the path of democracy. There is no alternative to democratic governance. There is no substitute for the rule of law and human rights,” Hontiveros added.
