In a press conference this morning in Quezon City, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo thanked all Filipinos who have supported and continue to support her in her work in the DSWD.

She said that she is “inspired and encouraged” by their support and “continuously guided” alternately by their appeals for assistance on the one hand, and their reports concerning anomalies, problems, and weaknesses when it comes to the delivery and implementation of government programs and services.

“Working for the DSWD in the last 10 months has taught me so much regarding the necessity of ensuring promptness and compassion when it comes to government service. We have done our best and we will continue to exert all the effort we can to ensure that under our leadership, the DSWD will remain among the most responsive and pro-poor agencies of the Duterte administration,” she said.

“The principles and values we are guided by — prompt and compassionate service; equal treatment of communities; zero corruption — these are all in line with the directives of Pres. Duterte. We uphold these values and strictly abide by them in the implementation of the DSWD’s services and programs,” she explained.

Sec. Taguiwalo said that she was overwhelmed by the outpour of support for the campaign for her confirmation as seen in the immense popularity of the hashtag #ConfirmJudy.

“When the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) nominated me for the post and when Pres. Duterte appointed me to the same, there was no doubt in my mind as to the direction my leadership in the DSWD would take and what values we will embrace: pro-poor, anti-corruption, inclusive, and compassionate. We will never deviate from this because this is what we owe the Filipino people. Thank you to those who believe in me, my leadership, and what it stands for not only in the DSWD, but in the context of public service itself,” she said.

Approval ratings

In the meantime, the DSWD shared the results of the  recent Pulse Asia Research survey from March 15-20, 2017. It came out that Sec. Taguiwalo enjoys an awareness rating of 78%. Of those aware of who she is, 58% approve of her performance, 7% disapprove, 28% are undecided and 7% either do not know or refused to answer.

Between the months of December 2016 and March 2017, awareness of Sec. Taguiwalo throughout the country increased by 8 percentage points.

In the meantime, there have been no significant movement in Sec. Taguiwalo’s disapproval rating  recorded in any location or among any demographic group.

Sec. Taguiwalo’s performance ratings are closely associated with the performance ratings of the DSWD.

The DSWD enjoys universal awareness and an approval rating of 79%;  4% disapprove of its performance; and 17% are undecided.

It is also important to note that the DSWD obtained essentially the same performance ratings in December 2016.

As the peace talks between the government and the CPP-NPA-NDF reaches an unprecedented development like never before in the history of the Philippines, nearly three-fourths of all respondents (74%) claim awareness of the peace talks between the government and the CPP-NPA-NDF.

A majority (80% of all respondents) is in favor of continuing the peace talks. Of all the respondents, 76% say that the peace talks could end the clashes between the military and armed group and 49% say that it will help the needy/poor.

Only 2% say that the peace talks will not help in any way.

The survey report is based on 1200 respondents or samples all equally distributed between  NCR, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. ###