President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval rating continues to soar as pollster Pulse Asia revealed that the President had 87 percent in December – at least nine notches higher than the previous approval rating.

The poll – conducted on 3 to 8 December using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents aged 18 years old and above nationwide – was welcomed by the Duterte administration’s economic team and attributed it to the lower poverty rate and a festive mood following the country’s hosting of the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games).

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia on Friday showed the results of the poll and compared the performance ratings of the President in September and December 2019.

It showed that the President’s approval rating across the Philippines in December rose from 78 percent of respondents in September, while disapproval of Duterte’s performance declined by three percentage points from five percent and eight percent previously.

However, Duterte’s approval rating in the National Capital Region declined by two percentage points to 78 percent, even as the rest of the country gave Duterte higher ratings than two months ago.

In the balance of Luzon, his approval climbed 14 percentage points to 83 percent; in the Visayas, up nine percentage points to 93 percent; and in Mindanao, up six percentage points to 98 percent.

Duterte remained popular to both males — up two percentage points to 87 percent and females — up 16 percentage points to 88 percent, according to the Pulse Asia survey.

Dominguez said the good performance of Filipino athletes during the recently concluded 30th SEA Games—where the Philippines amassed the most gold medals to snatch the overall championship among 11 participating countries—would further boost Duterte’s approval ratings.