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Malacanang shrugged off on Monday the drop on President Rodrigo Duterte's performance and trust ratings based on the latest survey.

According to the Pulse Asia survey conducted from September 16 to 22, Duterte's performance rating fell to 78 percent from 85 percent in June; and his trust rating plunged to 74 percent from 85 percent.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said despite the cut on Duterte's ratings, they were ''still high''.

"The rating is still high. It's more than 70 percent. Surveys fluctuate depending on when they get them," he said in a press briefing.

"If it (survey) is taken at a time when there are controversies hounding, it may affect the survey results," he added.

Pulse Asia that among the local and international developments that dominated headlines when the field interviews were conducted were the Senate investigation into the release of heinous crime convicts under the good conduct time allowance law; the declaration of the Department of Health of a polio outbreak in the country; the death of a cadet at the Philippine Military Academy due to hazing; and Duterte's revelation that Chinese President Xi Jinping offered the Philippines a 60 percent share in a proposed joint energy venture in the West Philippines Sea.

Other issues were the publication on the Bureau of Customs website of a "confidential" memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea ordering all government departments and agencies to suspend negotiations for loans and grants from 18 countries that supported a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution put forward by Iceland calling for the monitoring of the “war on drugs” of the Duterte administration; the confirmation made by Agriculture Secretary William Dar that African swine fever has affected pig farms in Bulacan, Rizal, and Metro Manila; and the increase in the prices of oil products following the September 14 attack on a majority oil processing plant in Saudi Arabia. Celerina Monte/DMS