MindaNews fact-checked a Facebook post of political party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP Laban) that Vice President Sara Duterte gained the highest approval rating among national government officials in the 2023 fourth quarter survey of Publicus Asia, Inc.
The post is misleading as it did not indicate that while she had the highest approval rating, it was a decline from her previous quarter’s performance rating.
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Several Pro-Duterte Facebook pages were flooded with the same social media card showing a survey favorable to Duterte, also concurrent Secretary of the Department of Education, but did not tell the complete story.
The PDP -Laban, which adopted Duterte as vice presidential candidate in the May 2022 elections, has posted on its Facebook page the card hailing her high approval rating of 59 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, based on a survey conducted by Publicus Asia.
The PDP Laban post on reads:
“Approval rating ni VP Sara, nanatiling mataas
Ayon sa inilabas na 2023 survey ng Publicus Asia, nanatiling mataas ang approval rating ni Bise Presidente Sara Duterte-Carpio (Inday Sara Duterte) sa bansa. Nakakuha ang ikalawang pangulo ng 59% approval rating.
Isinagawa ang nasabing survey ng Publicus Asia mula Nobyembre 29 hanggang Disyembre 4, 2023.
Mayroon itong 1,500 respondents.”
However, the PDP Laban post did not say that Duterte’s high approval rating was a decline from 62 percent from the previous quarter survey of Publicus Asia, or a slump of three percent.
PDP Laban is chaired by former President Rodrigo Duterte, the vice president’s father. Its Facebook page is followed by 107,000 users.
Publicus Asia conducted the survey from November 29 to December 4 last year, and released it to the public on December 21 in a press statement entitled “PBBM slightly recovers, VP Duterte experiences a downward trend – PAHAYAG Survey.”
PBBM refers to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Marcos’ approval rating slightly recovered from 55 percent to 58 percent, the Publicus survey showed.
PDP Laban first posted the incomplete story of Sara Duterte’s high approval rating at 10 a.m. January 16, which generated 529 reactions, 133 comments and 67 shares as of March 5.
The post was shared at pro-Duterte pages VP/DepEd Sec. SARA DUTERTE FOLLOWERS (76.5k members), MAHALIN NATIN ANG PILIPINAS TAPANG AT MALASAKIT (41.3k members), Mindanao Socmed Coalition (6k followers), QUEZON PROVINCE DUTERTE DIEHARD SUPPORTERS (7.8k members), DUTERTE SOCIAL MEDIA – SOCSKSARGEN (1.2k members), and ONE PILIPINAS for BBM-SARA Atbp (1.6k members).
According to the Publicus Asia survey, the downward trend in Duterte’s approval rating is particularly pronounced in Mindanao, where approval decreased from 84 percent to 76 percent.
Also included in the survey was Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, whose approval rating bounced to 47 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 43 percent the previous quarter..
House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s approval stabilized, though a downward trend is evident, declining from 42 percent in the second quarter to 37 percent in the third quarter to 36 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, Publicus Asia said.
Though lowest in the Publicus Asia survey, Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo has the most stable approval rating among top national government officials at 37 percent across the quarters of 2023.
As with all our other reports, MindaNews welcomes leads or suggestions from the public to potential fact-check stories. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
