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Ateneo study on PRRD’s satisfaction ratings ‘baseless’: Andanar

By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos

January 30, 2020, 7:55 pm

<p>President Rodrigo R. Duterte</p>

President Rodrigo R. Duterte

MANILA — A study by the Ateneo School of Government on the public satisfaction with President Rodrigo Duterte is “baseless and unfounded,” Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said on Thursday.

Andanar was reacting to the Ateneo School of Government’s survey which found that Duterte’s net satisfaction scores are possibly tied to “herd behavior and disinformation.”

In a press statement, Andanar said the study apparently failed to check on the “actual realities” that contribute to the surge in public satisfaction with the President’s work performance.

“We are disappointed with the weak and unrealistic outcomes generated by a study promulgated by the students of the Ateneo School of Government,” Andanar said.

“The significant and obvious deficiencies of the study were not able to correlate the assumptions and claims it made to the actual realities of the different communities which they say contributed to the increasing satisfaction ratings of President Duterte,” he added.

Tristan Canare, Ronald Mendoza, Leo Jaminola, and Jurel Yap from the Ateneo School of Government analyzed Duterte’s net satisfaction ratings based on polls by Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia.

The December 13 to 16 poll by SWS revealed that 82 percent of adult Filipinos are satisfied with Duterte’s performance, while only 10 percent are dissatisfied.

Meanwhile, Pulse Asia’s December poll found that the President continued to enjoy public satisfaction on his work ethic after his approval score climbed by nine notches to 87 percent in December from 78 percent in September last year.

Canare, Mendoza, Jaminola, and Yap also conducted a survey in July 2019 among 1,200 low-income registered voters in Metro Manila.

Based on their study, there is “scant evidence that economic links are tied to presidential satisfaction.”

“Instead, there is evidence of herd behavior and partial evidence of disinformation possibly linked to presidential net satisfaction,” the study said.

Andanar said the “loose” and “lazy” undertaking of the study was done by merely asking respondents on the opinion of their respective communities on President Duterte.

“In fact, to explain away the respondents' opinions of the President as ‘sheep’ behavior, making them easily led about, is very elitist. It is to imply that these people cannot think or decide for themselves or worse, that they cannot form their own opinion,” he said.

“Each and every Filipino have their own and are entitled to their own position and belief, and these are affected by diverse factors, including but not limited to their communities' opinions,” Andanar added.

He said the study is nothing but a case of “gross overgeneralization with no hard proof of herd behavior.”

He added that the survey of the Ateneo School of Government ended up “unconvincingly incomprehensible and skewed.”

“The rigid conditions set by the study on its respondents to conclude that presidential net satisfaction ratings of President Duterte may be a product of disinformation, seems like a setup that will give them their desired outcome, given that the questions are not common knowledge or about matters of importance to the respondents, and that they can only answer yes or no,” he said.

“It is not how a study to show disinformation should be done,” Andanar added.

Andanar said Duterte's high satisfaction rating is a “reflection” of the people's sentiment about the President as a leader.

“It should be considered and respected,” he said.

Refuting the findings of the study, Andanar said the “DutertEnomics,” a campaign that highlights the President’s economic policies, has significantly contributed to the sustained growth rate performance of the country in the face of continuous global economic slowdown.

Andanar also said Duterte’s economic policies have already lifted at least 5.9 million Filipinos out of poverty, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

He added that the government’s ambitious “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program also helped generate numerous employment opportunities.

“This was done in conjunction with the highly effective and efficient social services being provided by the government to every Filipino,” Andanar said.

“The economic performance, indeed, cannot be denied of its validity as a contributing factor towards President Duterte’s increasing net satisfaction ratings. But beyond numbers, what translates to the people is what they experience on the ground, which is the presence of the administration's programs and services,” he added.

Andanar guaranteed that Duterte and his administration would continue to give Filipinos a “comfortable life,” not for high satisfaction rating but for the fulfillment of their promises to the people.

“Despite the baseless and unfounded attacks being passed off as legitimate studies, such as this, we will continue to deliver the necessary services for every Filipino, as we continue to sustain the efforts geared towards giving all of them a comfortable life,” he said. (PNA)

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