(Eagle News) — A “blip” President Rodrigo Duterte should not be worried about.
This was how former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo described the slight drop in ratings of the former Davao mayor in the third quarter of this year.
According to Arroyo, “the rise and drop in a President’s approval ratings,” after all, “are bound to happen in the course of his/her term.”
“It is part of the territory…It reflects the pulse of the people at a particular time,” she said.
According to Arroyo, as such, a drop “does not mean erosion of public support but merely a sentiment on particular policies.”
In the case of the recent Social Weather Stations survey, it was done “at the height of the controversy over so-called EJKs in the war on drugs,” she said.
“During my term, I too suffered even more serious problems with my ratings precipitated by the same kind of vicious opposition now working to bring down President Duterte,” she explained.
She said she instead focused on “performance, performance, performance.”
“The President has started several historic initiatives that too will comprise his legacy,” she said, referring to Duterte’s initiatives on “comprehensive tax reform, infrastructure buildout, Charter change, and securing and rebuilding Marawi City.”
“All of them can produce changes early enough to improve his ratings by early next year,” she said.
Net satisfaction of President Duterte’s performance dropped a few points based on the SWS survey, but overall net performance was still classified as “good” by the pollster.