Despite the unabated extrajudicial killings, unfulfilled promises, outlandish tirades, and inclination for authoritarian rule, President Rodrigo Duterte, according to Pulse Asia, has outranked three former Presidents in approval and trust ratings.

It will be recalled that both Hitler and Mussolini were initially wildly popular leaders who fell from power as despots and demagogues.

There are basic flaws in Pulse Asia’s averaging of collated data because the respondents were different and the issues surrounding the respective Presidents, their perceived popularity, individual projected personality, mass appeal, and the political milieu at the time the surveys were conducted are also vastly diverse.

Apples and oranges cannot be compared to reach a viable and acceptable comparison and conclusion.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN