DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/10 July) – Davao folk gave President Rodrigo R. Duterte a high approval rating for his federalism agenda, but rated him low on Manila’s traffic woes and internet connectivity, a survey conducted by the University of Mindanao’s Institute of Popular Opinion (UM-IPO) said.
Administered on 1,200 respondents from May 17-26, the survey assessed Duterte’s first year in Malacanang based on the 18 programs that as a candidate he promised to implement if he won.
Dabawenyos gave the president an approval rating of 89.38 percent for his first year in office.
The survey results, released on July 10, showed that Duterte received the highest rating for his program on federalism with 96.21 percent, said UM-IPO director for quantitative studies Adrian Tamayo.
“Of the promises made during elections, highest rating was afforded for the efforts to pursue federalism. In the eyes of the Dabawenyos, this is the most impressive initiative,” he said.
His war on drugs and his promise to “kill big time drug lords and suppress drug trade” placed second highest at 90.11 percent.
This was followed by his stand against corruption (88.14 percent), and his promise to end labor contractualization (88.10 percent).
However, Dabawenyos gave Duterte a low grade on solving the traffic problems in Metro Manila at 76.15 percent and and a failing grade on improving internet connectivity and access at 72.15 percent.
Tamayo said the traffic congestion, “if translated to academic scale, this is barely a passing score.”
On internet access, he said, “It seemed like this is one thing that the administration can focus on.”
Dabawenyos gave Duterte high ratings for his program to “open health facilities in every barangay each with resident doctor” (87.74 percent); improve wages and equipment of the police and military (87.57 percent); promote family planning to prevent overpopulation (87.31 percent); and put a stop to big mining companies in Mindanao that damage the environment (86.88 percent).”
Duterte maintained a good rating for his stance against abusive mining in Mindanao (86.88 percent), anti-crime program, increased infrastructure spending, among others.
Tamayo said 83 percent of Dabawenyos believe that Duterte can withstand threats of destabilization, 2 percent believe otherwise, while 14 percent pointed out that is “too early to speculate.”
“Of the 8 in 10 Dabaweyos who believe that this administration can withstand attempts of destabilization, 7 of them believe that significant leaps will happen to this country with Duterte as President,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)