Public appreciation of gov't efforts to address major concerns wanes: Pulse Asia

MANILA - The public's appreciation of the Duterte administration's efforts to address issues most urgent to them is diminishing, the head of Pulse Asia said Tuesday as he explained the results of its latest survey.

In its Sept. 6-11 survey on perceived urgency of selected national issues and the administration's performance rating, the following emerged as the top four among the most urgent national concerns, as picked by the 2,400 respondents:

- controlling inflation (41 percent)
- increasing the pay of workers (40 percent)
- controlling the spread of COVID-19 (29 percent)
- reducing poverty (29 percent)

Asked to assess the government's efforts to address each of these four concerns, the following approval and disapproval ratings were generated from the respondents:

- controlling inflation: 37 percent approval and 36 percent disapproval
- increasing the pay of workers: 48 percent approval and 21 percent disapproval
- controlling the spread of COVID-19: 59 percent approval and 17 percent disapproval
- reducing poverty: 41 percent approval and 32 disapproval

“The top priority would be high prices of commodities, controlling inflation, followed by increasing the pay of workers. So, on those more urgent concerns that the (respondents) believe the administration should address, the approval performance rating of the administration, the approval is less than a majority," Pulse Asia President Ronald Holmes said in an interview.

"Then, on controlling inflation, Filipinos basically are divided in approving, ambivalent disapproving. The level of disapproval is both the same same as the level of approval," he noted.

Comparing these results to last year's and last June's surveys, a decrease in those who gave their approval, and an increase in those who disapprove of the government's response were observed.

“Doon sa apat na pinakamahalagang usapin... increasing the pay, reduction of poverty controlling inflation..., the level of approval is less than a majority compared to the other issues which we feel are not as urgent,” Holmes said.

The government's actions to control the spread of COVID-19 may have earned a majority approval in the latest survey, but he it is lower than in the previous polls.

“What this data would suggest is that government’s performance in attending to the major concerns are less appreciated now, if we compare them to the last survey, and if we compare them to the level of approval that was registered in September 2020,” he added.

Based on the latest survey, the administration got high approval ratings, nonetheless, in the following areas:

- fighting criminality (74 percent)
- responding to the needs of calamity-hit areas (71 percent)
- protecting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (66 percent)
- promoting peace in the country (64 percent)
- providing assistance to those who lost their job or source of livelihood due to the pandemic (64 percent)
- enforcing the rule of law on all citizens (60 percent)
- stopping environmental destruction (56 percent)
- fighting corruption (52 percent)

Staying healthy is the top urgent personal concern of Filipinos (70 percent), followed by having a secure and well-paying job or source of income (47 percent) and having enough to eat every day (46 percent).

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the latest Pulse Asia survey results showed how the government has "exemplified decisive and compassionate leadership."

He highlighted the net approval ratings on fighting criminality (+65), responding to the needs of areas affected by calamities (+62), protecting the welfare of the OFWs (+60), promoting peace in the country (+55), and providing assistance /subsidy to those who lost their livelihood and jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic (+50) as the highest the administration got from the respondents among the identified issues.

The net ratings, meanwhile, on creating more jobs (+27), increasing the pay of workers (+27), reducing the poverty of many Filipinos (+9) and controlling inflation (+1) "reflect the present economic situation, where 23.3 million workers, according to our Economic Team, have been affected by heightened quarantine," he said.

"This is the rationale behind our ingat buhay para sa hanapbuhay advocacy," Roque said.

"We are accelerating vaccination by expanding vaccination sites among others, and managing COVID-19 risks better by allowing the gradual re-opening of the economy and imposing localized lockdowns in the highest risk areas," he added.

The government’s handling of issues that people consider as priorities could be a factor in shaping the outcome of the election, specifically on the fate of the administration standard bearer, Holmes said.

“Elections would be a mechanism to hold the incumbent government accountable. Although our President cannot be reelected, the endorsed candidate of the President may be held accountable by the public for the malperformance of the incumbent outgoing administration," he said.

"This is something that the government should attend to because if there's a further slide in terms of the approval of their performance in addressing these major issues, that will definitely not bode well both to whoever is the candidate of the administration.”

- with reports from RG Cruz and Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News

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