Pinoys continue to trust PDU30; VP, PNP, Congress, ‘distrusted’

THE ongoing 5-year campaign by the communist and their allies and bedfellows in the political opposition against Pres. Duterte that started when was elected in 2016, continues to bear dismal result after another poll disclosed continued very high trust and approval ratings for the Chief Executive.

Based on the first quarter poll of ‘PUBLiCUS Asia’ conducted between March 20 to March 20, 2021, involving 1,500 registered Filipino voters, Pres. Duterte’s approval and trust ratings remain high “despite only having 15 months in office.”

The survey covers the country’s 5 highest national leaders and select agencies of the government.

PUBLiCus claims to be the country’s “first lobbying and political campaign management company” registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Accordingly, Pres. Duterte registered 65 percent approval rating and trust rating of 55 percent, slightly lower by 5 percent and 7 percent, respectively, from his ratings during the last poll conducted by the company in December 2020.

Senate President Vicente Sotto secured the second spot in terms of approval rating at 40 percent while Vice President Leni Robredo got a dismal 29 percent approval.

Retired Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta’s approval rating is at 28 percent while House Speaker Lord Velasco has 25 percent.

In terms of public trust, Robredo, the opposition’s presumed presidential candidate next year, is only believed by 19 percent of Filipinos whole those who distrusted her was a shocking 49 percent. Sotto had 25 percent trust rating, Peralta at 15 percent while Velasco was only believed by 14 percent of Filipinos.

For select government agencies, the Philippine National Police (PNP), under Chief PNP Debold Sinas, has seen its approval rating dropped by 21 points, spiraling down to just 37 percent, compared to its modest rating of 58 percent during the December survey. In terms of performance, the PNP also registered a poor 367 percent rating.

Meanwhile, while Congress registered a passable 46 percent approval rating, only 25 percent of those surveyed trusted its performance under Velasco.

The top 3 government agencies with the highest approval ratings are: Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) under Secretary Isidro Lapeña at 61 percent; Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) now under Gen. Cirilito Sobejana at 60 percent; and, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) under Secretary Rolando Bautista.

On the other hand, the 3 most trusted agencies are the AFP at 44 percent, TESDA at 43 percent and, Department of Science and Technology under Secretary Fortunato dela Peña at 35 percent.

The same survey showed the Department of Health, under Secretary Francisco Duque, being trusted by only 30 percent of the respondents with an approval rating of only 46 percent.

Mayor Isko is top senatorial choice

In a separate survey for the same period, Manila mayor Francisco ‘Isko’ Moreno, would top the senatorial race if the election was held today.

Based on the survey question, ‘As of now, who among the following would you most likely support for senator in the 2022 election,’ Moreno got 69 percent, followed by Sen. Manny Pacquiao, at 66 percent.

The survey included in the list the names of 68 “potential candidates,” David Yap, PUBLiCUS chief data scientist, said.

Moreno bested Pacquiao despite the latter having the highest approval and trust ratings among the members of the Upper Chamber at 66 percent and 53 percent, respectively, followed by Sen. Christopher ‘Bong’ Go, who registered an approval rating of 49 percent and a trust rating of 35 percent.

Rounding up the top 12 preferred candidates for the Senate after Moreno and Pacquiao are: ‘Doc’ Willie Ong (63 percent); Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero (58 percent); Lucy Torres-Gomez, 39 percent; Sara Duterte-Carpio, 31 percent; Risa Hontiveros, 31 percent; Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, 28 percent; Joel Villanueva, 27 percent; Win Gatchalian, 24 percent; Vilma Santos-Recto, 22 percent; and, Loren Legarda, 22 percent.