MANILA - More Filipinos were satisfied with President Rodrigo Duterte's administration as its rating rose to "excellent" in the first quarter of 2019, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed Friday.

Of 1,440 Filipino adults, 81 percent were satisfied with the national government's general performance, 10 percent were undecided, and 9 percent were dissatisfied.

This yielded a +72 net satisfaction rating, 6 points higher than the +66 it achieved in the previous quarter.

The pollster attributed the rise due to an increase in all geographic areas. The government's satisfaction rating increased in the Visayas by 11 points to +74, Mindanao by 6 points to +81, Balance Luzon by 3 points to +68, and Metro Manila by 5 points to +65.

Satisfaction with the government improved to "excellent" +72 from "very good" +65 in Class D or the masa, while it stayed excellent in richest class ABC (+73), and declined to +68 from +70 in December 2018.

REPORT CARD

The survey also found that the Duterte administration registered marked improvements on several issues.

The government's rating on helping the poor rose to a record-high "excellent" +72 from "very good" +68 in the previous quarter.

It remained "very good" on fighting terrorism (+58) and reconstructing Marawi City (+58).

Respondents, meanwhile, gave government a "good" rating on fighting crimes (+48), reconciling with communist rebels (record-high +45), reconciling with Muslim rebels (+44), eradicating graft and corruption (+41), foreign relations (+41), and defending Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (+40).

However, it was "moderate" on fighting inflation (+22), which increased by 8 points from +14 in December 2018.

The first quarter poll was conducted from March 28 to 31. It has a margin of error of ±2.6 percent for national figures.