Some people make the mistake of claiming that President Rodrigo Duterte won by a landslide. He did not. He simply topped the race against four other candidates, with 16-million votes, representing 39 percent of the total votes cast. This is called a plurality.
It is thus plain wrong to say that Mr. Duterte enjoys a mandate from the majority. There are still more Filipinos who did not vote for him than those who did.
It would not be wrong to say, however, that six months into his term, Mr. Duterte enjoys tremendous support from the public. The latest Pulse Asia survey, conducted Dec. 1 to 6 last year, showed that he continues to enjoy 83-percent performance approval and trust ratings among Filipinos nationwide.
The December figure is just three percentage points lower than the 86-percent ratings from September 2016. The difference is deemed statistically insignificant.
Context provides a clue as to how popular Mr. Duterte remains. At the time the December survey was conducted, some quarters were in uproar over the surprise burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Vice President Leni Robredo also resigned from the Cabinet after being told, indirectly, that she need not attend meetings.
At around this time, too, there have been growing concerns about killings done in the name of the war on illegal drugs. The President has gained international notoriety for his colorful language and controversial pronouncements on foreign policy.
That he should still enjoy high levels of trust and approval is telling: The people are confident in his leadership and so far still find his actions acceptable, at the very least.
The numbers must tell him one other thing, however: This is not a free pass to do anything he wants, toy with policies and drive us crazy just figuring out what he means—no, what he really means.
They should remind him that people continue to expect him to do the right thing and deliver the kind of change we envision and deserve—he should not get heady and complacent. Instead he must show himself worthy of what he continues to enjoy.