Despite Duterte tirades, UN still trusted by most Filipinos
The United Nations (UN) still enjoys high trust ratings among Filipinos despite being a common target of President Rodrigo Duterte’s tirades in his profanity-laced public speeches, according to a recent survey by Pulse Asia.
The survey, conducted from Dec. 6 to 11, 2016, showed that more than half or 74 percent of 1,200 respondents expressed a great deal or fair amount of trust to the UN, when asked how much the Philippines can trust the international body.
This was the prevailing sentiment not only at the national level but also in all geographic areas (ranging from 67 to 83 percent) and socio-economic classes (69 to 79 percent). Trust in the UN was highest among respondents from Metro Manila (83 percent) and class ABC (79 percent).
A quarter of Filipinos (25 percent) distrust the organization while only one percent of respondents were undecided.
Duterte has repeatedly lambasted the UN for criticizing human rights violations in his administration’s war on drugs, which has claimed the lives of nearly 6,000 since he assumed office. At one point, the President has threatened to pull out the Philippines from the UN.
READ: Duterte threatens to pull PH out of UN
The UN rapporteur on extrajudicial killings was set to visit the Philippines for a fact-finding probe on the spate of drug-related deaths in the country, but this has yet to push through amid conditions imposed by the Duterte administration.
Half of respondents also trust the European Union, another staple subject of Duterte’s outbursts, but 47 percent expressed distrust. Three percent of Filipinos were undecided on whether to trust EU or not.
“Majorities in Metro Manila (60%), the rest of Luzon (51%), and Classes ABC and D (58% and 52%, respectively) trust the EU but most of those in the Visayas (56%), Mindanao (51%), and Class E (58%) are inclined to distrust the organization,” Pulse Asia said.
The same survey, which rated public trust in selected countries and international organizations, also yielded high trust in the United States and Japan and distrust in China and Russia. CDG
