President Rodrigo Duterte will maintain his high satisfaction and approval rating until the end of his term, the Palace said Thursday.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Malacañang was confident Duterte would continue receiving high ratings because the “people keep expressing their support to awaken the critics and detractors from their sleep.”
“The President is a very transparent leader. His political will shows in every measure and step he has undertaken,” Panelo said.
“It shows how sincere he is and the people are satisfied with his method of governance.”
Panelo was reacting to the Pulse Asia survey released Wednesday showing eight out of 10 Filipinos still trusted and approved of Duterte’s performance despite the criticisms thrown against him following the Recto Bank incident.
Only 3 percent said they disapproved of the President’s performance while 11 percent were undecided.
“People keep expressing their support to awaken the critics and detractors from their sleep that all the criticisms against this President relative to drugs, the West Philippine Sea, and other issues of national interest are all wrong. No basis,” Panelo said.
Recently, Duterte came under scrutiny from the international community after the United Nations Human Rights Council approved a resolution seeking to probe the human rights situation in the country, and following the drug-related deaths from police operations and vigilante-style murders.
Duterte also drew flak after he revealed he had entered into a verbal deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2016 allowing Chinese fishermen within the country’s exclusive economic zone, which should be enjoyed exclusively by Filipinos as stated in the 1987 Constitution.
“The detractors keep on saying that the rating will go down. But the more they say that, the more it goes up. If that is not a powerful language against them, I don’t know what is not,” Panelo said.