Philippines poll: Duterte rated ‘very good’ in first 90 days

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has been rated “very good” in an opinion poll on his first 90 days in office, which has been defined largely by his deadly war on drugs and vitriol against Western leaders.

Only 11 percent of 1,200 Filipinos surveyed by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) agency said they were dissatisfied with his performance. That gave Duterte a net satisfaction rating of 64 percent, getting him off to a better start than predecessors Benigno Aquino, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but short of the 66 percent achieved by Fidel Ramos in 1992.

The rating, announced on Thursday, was calculated by deducting the 11 percent from the 76 percent of respondents who said they were satisfied with Duterte’s presidency, then rounding it off. Thirteen percent were undecided.

The SWS survey did not ask respondents to give a reason for the rating. It was conducted in face-to-face interviews held from Sept. 24-27, after Duterte had a spat with President Barack Obama over criticism of his anti-dugs campaign but before he said he was seeking new alliances with China and Russia.

A survey by Pulse Asia, another polling agency, less than a month after he took office on June 30 said Duterte had a record 91 percent trust rating. The two polls are not comparable.

Duterte won the May 9 election by a substantial margin after promising to expand a ruthless anti-crime campaign he started while mayor of Davao City, which had earned him nicknames like “the Punisher” and “Duterte Harry”.