MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte maintained a "very good" satisfaction rating several months before Filipinos choose his successor, the Social Weather Stations disclosed on Tuesday.

Of 1,440 adults polled from Dec. 12 to 16, 75 percent said they were satisfied with Duterte's performance as president, while 9 percent were undecided and 15 percent were dissatisfied, SWS said.

The yields a net satisfaction rating of +60, which is equal to the percent of those satisfied minus the dissatisfied. The SWS classifies ratings between +50 and +69 as "very good."

"Compared to September 2021, gross satisfaction with Pres. Duterte rose by 8 points from 67%, gross undecided fell by 2 points from 11%, and gross dissatisfaction stayed at 15%," noted the pollster.

The 8-point rise in Duterte’s overall satisfaction rating from September to December was due to "increases" in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, combined with "steady net ratings" of excellent in Mindanao and good in the Visayas, the SWS said.

"Kami po'y nagpapasalamat sa suporta na pinapakita ng ating mga kababayan at siyempre ang tanging isusukli na lang po ni Pangulong Duterte d'yan ay ang patuloy niyang pagtatrabaho hanggang sa katapusan ng kanyang termino," said Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

"Ang gagawin niya po always ano 'yong, lagi n'ya sinasabi, ano 'yong ikakabuti ng mas nararami nating mga kababayan," he said in a radio interview.

(We are thankful of the support that our compatriots show and President Duterte will pay that back by continuing to work until the end of his term. What he'll always do, as he says, is what will be good for the majority.)

Duterte steps down in June. He has yet to name a preferred contender in May's presidential elections, after his top choice backed out.

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The non-commissioned SWS survey had sampling error margins of ±2.6 percent for national percentages, and ±5.2 percent for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

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