MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte’s trust rating suffered a 10-point decline and a downgrade from “excellent” to “very good” in the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

Duterte’s net trust rating fell from “excellent” +75 in December last year to “very good” +65 in the survey conducted from March 23 to 27, according to survey results released yesterday.

SWS said three in every four Filipinos or 76 percent of 1,200 adult respondents said they have much trust in the President, lower than the 83 percent obtained in December.

Ten percent of the respondents said they have little trust in him, higher by three points from the previous survey.

The number of undecided increased from 10 percent to 14 percent.

This is the second time that Duterte’s net trust rating fell to “very good” category, following the +60 he obtained in September 2017.

The net trust rating is the rounded off difference between those who said they have much trust in the President and those who said they have little trust.

SWS classifies net trust ratings of at least +70 as “excellent;” +50 to +69 as “very “good;” +30 to +49 as “good;” +10 to +29 as “moderate;” +9 to -9 as “neutral;” -10 to -29 as “poor;” -30 to -49 as “bad;” -50 to -69 as “very bad;” and -70 and below as “execrable.”

The net trust rating, which gauges public trust in a personality as a whole, is different from the satisfaction rating that measures public satisfaction with an individual’s performance related to his or her position or duty.

Duterte’s satisfaction in the March survey remained at “very good” +63, similar to what he obtained in December.

Down in all areas

The latest SWS survey showed declines in the net trust rating of the President in all areas, including a downgrade from “excellent” to “very good” in his scores in Metro Manila.

Compared with the survey results in December, Duterte’s net trust rating in Metro Manila suffered a nine point decline from +73 (80 percent much trust, seven percent little trust) to +62 (74 percent much trust, 12 percent little trust).

His trust ratings remained “excellent” in the Visayas and Mindanao, but fell from +76 (83 percent much trust, seven percent little trust) to +70 (80 percent much trust, 10 percent little trust) and from +94 (95 percent much trust, two percent little trust) to +89 (92 percent much trust, three percent little trust), respectively.

It remained very good in the rest of Luzon, although down by three points from +56 (77 percent much trust, 10 percent little trust, rounded) to +53 (66 percent much trust, 13 percent little trust).

The survey had a sampling error margin of +/-3 points for national percentages.