MANILA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government vowed on Sunday to double its efforts to deliver public services, in an apparent move to regain the trust of the people, as public satisfaction showed a double-digit decline.
President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque said the administration will also improve its communications with the people after a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey conducted in March dipped 10 points during the first quarter of 2018.
Roque insisted that many agencies have made significant strides in their respective areas and fields despite the SWS results that showed the public satisfaction on the cabinet's performance down to a moderate +28 (47 percent satisfied, 19 percent dissatisfied) in March from a "good" +38 (53 percent satisfied, 15 percent dissatisfied) in December.
The SWS rating is the lowest performance rating of the incumbent cabinet since Duterte assumed office in June 2016. The highest was recorded at a +38 in December 2017.
"The departments under the executive branch will continue to serve the nation and the best interest of our people by bringing comfortable lives to disadvantaged and marginalized families, unmindful of the distraction and political noise," Roque said.
He added, "We shall therefore work double time in highlighting policies and programs of the current administration that have the most impact to the lives of our countrymen."
The survey said the 10-point decline in the overall net satisfaction rating of the Cabinet was due to decreases in all areas: 29 points in Mindanao in the southern Philippines, 7 points in the Philippine main Luzon Island, 2 points in the Visayas in the central Philippines and 1 point in Metro Manila, the Philippine capital.
"The net satisfaction rating of the cabinet stayed good in Metro Manila, at +30 (correctly rounded) in March 2018, hardly moving from +31 in December 2017," the SWS said.
It also stayed good in the Visayas, at +31 in March 2018, 2 points below +32 (correctly rounded) in December 2017.
However, it fell by two grades from very good to moderate in Mindanao, at +23 in March 2018, down by 29 points from +52 in December 2017.
It fell by one grade from good to moderate in Balance Luzon, at +28 in March 2018, down by 7 points from +35 in December 2017, the SWS said.
