By Junex Doronio
THIS EARLY, two main protagonists in the 2028 presidential race, five years from now, are making their presence felt with Vice President Sara Duterte’s satisfaction rating in the latest OCTA survey at 70 percent but noticeably decreased by 12 percent while that of Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez increased by six percent and zoomed up to 61 percent.
Conducted from September 30 to October 4, the OCTA survey showed Duterte apparently losing her “magic” across all key geographic regions.
She has a 16-percentage-point drop in the Visayas, and a 12-percentage-point drop in Balance Luzon, and among socioeconomic classes, Duterte got a 22-percentage-point drop among Class E and a 19-percentage-point drop among Class ABC.
Some political observers told Maharlika NuMedia that Duterte’s seeming “free fall” could be attributed to her controversial confidential funds, particularly on how her Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent the “secret monies” in just 11 days in 2022.
Her asking for P650 million total confidential funds for the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) that she heads as Secretary for 2024 but was stripped by the House of Representatives.
Inday Sara — as the Vice President and Education Secretary is fondly called by her supporters — has also remained “mysteriously silent” on the issue of China bullying in the West Philippine Sea that caused an uproar among many Filipinos.
On the other hand, Romualdez showed his proactive leadership when he led the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in raiding the warehouses of rice hoarders and the House of Representatives realignment of confidential funds to the agencies tasked to safeguard the country’s national security and sovereignty.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s satisfaction rating also dropped by six percentage points from the second to the third quarter of 2023, although 65% of Filipinos still remain satisfied with his performance.
(AI/MNM)