Pulse Asia: 8 in 10 Filipinos approve of government’s COVID response
On the same day that Pulse Asia releases its survey, the Philippines becomes the 19th country in the world to have the most COVID-19 cases.
According to a Pulse Asia survey released today, 84% or eight in every 10 Filipinos “have a positive opinion about the work done by the Duterte administration to control the spread of COVID-19 and to provide assistance to those who lost their livelihood or jobs due to the pandemic.”
Conducted from Sept. 14 to 20, the survey had 1,200 respondents nationwide.
Today, Oct. 8, marks the country becoming the 19th in the world to have the most COVID-19 cases, overtaking Turkey. The Philippines now has 331,896 cases and 6,069 deaths.
Pulse Asia’s survey asked respondents how they rated government on two issues. On its efforts to control the pandemic, 33% said they “truly approve”; 51% said they “somewhat approve”; 6% disapproved; and 10% were undecided.
Approval of the government’s response to the spread of the virus was highest in the Visayas at 86%, followed by Luzon and Mindanao at 85%, and Metro Manila at 78%.
On the response to provide assistance, 32% said they “truly approve”; 53% said they “somewhat approve”; 7% disapproved; and 9% were undecided.
Approval was highest in Mindanao at 91%, Visayas at 87%, Luzon at 82 %, and Metro Manila at 75%.
According to Pulse Asia, the survey showed that 92% of the respondents approve of President Rodrigo Duterte’s work in preventing the spread of the virus.
On Sept. 15, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released a report that said the Philippine economy is forecast to “contract by 7.3% in 2020 amid the pandemic before growth returns to 6.5% in 2021.”
The country reached its highest unemployment rate in April—17.7% or 7.3 million jobless Filipinos—since COVID-19 spread to the country in late January and ECQ was imposed on March 16.
On Sept. 3, the government said the unemployment rate in July had gone down to 10% as quarantine restrictions were eased.
“This is higher than the unemployment rate of the same month a year ago, placed at 5.4 percent, but lower than the record high 17.7 percent during April 2020,” the Philippine National Statistician Dennis Mapa said.
Banner photo by Ernie Peñaredondo/Philippine Star (file photo, July 2020)