Noli tops government approval survey

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Noli de Castro has remained as the country’s top performing and most trusted government official in the country while President Arroyo continued to receive the highest disapproval rating, a recent survey by Pulse Asia revealed yesterday.

Mrs. Arroyo received the highest disapproval rating among top government officials, with 46 percent of Filipinos saying they disapprove of her performance.

Twenty-six percent of Filipinos approved Mrs. Arroyo’s performance while 27 percent were undecided.

“Relatively low public approval for President Arroyo (26 percent) has remained much the same across most of the past four years,” Pulse Asia said.

In Pulse Asia’s May 2009 Ulat ng Bayan survey, Filipinos are most appreciative of the performance of De Castro, at 53 percent. Twenty-one percent disapproved his performance while 26 percent were undecided.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s approval rating went from 34 percent in February to 32 percent in May.

Twenty-six percent disapproved his performance while 40 percent were undecided.

As for Speaker Prospero Nograles, he posted an even lower approval rating of 20 percent.

Thirty-four percent disapproved of his performance while 42 percent were undecided.

In the case of Chief Justice Reynato Puno, his approval rating remained at 34 percent, 25 percent disapproved his performance and 38 percent were undecided.

The non-commissioned survey, conducted from May 4 to 17, used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 representative adults aged 18 years old and above.

De Castro continued to enjoy the highest approval rating (41 percent to 63 percent) while Mrs. Arroyo posted the highest disapproval rating (43 percent to 60 percent) in all geographic areas and socio-economic classes, Pulse Asia said.

Between February and March 2009, public disapproval for presidential performance increased in the Visayas (+10 percentage points) and Class ABC (+16 percentage points) while presidential indecision ratings declined in the best-off Class ABC (-10 percentage points), Pulse Asia said.

In the case of De Castro’s ratings, the most marked movement during this period is the eight-percentage point increase in his disapproval ratings in the Visayas (+8 percentage points), it said.

Enrile’s approval figures dropped by 17 percentage points while disapproval ratings increased by 11 percentage points in the Visayas.

A 12-percentage point increase in Nograles’ indecision ratings may also be noted in the poorest Class E.

In the case of Puno, improvements were noted in his approval ratings in Mindanao and Class E (+12 percentage points) while public ambivalence toward his work becomes more pronounced in Metro Manila (+12 percentage points) but less manifested in the Visayas (-10 percentage points).

There was also an increase (-12 percentage points) in the disapproval ratings of Puno in the Visayas.

Pulse Asia said that while there are no significant changes in the overall performance ratings of these leading government officials between February and May 2009, there is a slight decline in the overall level of public appreciation (-5 percentage points) and a corresponding increase in the level of public indecision toward the performance of Nograles.

The survey showed that public trust is the predominant sentiment only in the case of De Castro while public distrust is most pronounced in the case of Mrs. Arroyo.

It said big pluralities of Filipinos could not say if they trust or distrust Enrile, Nograles and Puno.

De Castro received the highest overall trust rating (48 percent) among the country’s top government officials.

In contrast, Mrs. Arroyo garnered 25 percent trust rating, registering the highest disapproval of 48 percent.

Nograles obtained the lowest overall trust rating (17 percent) while De Castro has the lowest overall distrust score (22 percent).

Both Puno and Enrile got a trust rating of 28 percent.

“For the most part, the overall trust ratings of these top government officials remain constant between February and May 2009,” the pollster said.

Nonetheless, it said there is a marginal drop (-4 percentage points) in the overall trust ratings of De Castro and Nograles and a slight increase in the overall level of public ambivalence toward the House Speaker (+5 percentage points).

De Castro is the most trusted top national government official across geographic areas and socio-economic groupings (38 percent to 57 percent) while Mrs. Arroyo is the most distrusted in most of these sub-groupings (42 percent to 67 percent).

Mrs. Arroyo and Nograles obtained nearly the same distrust ratings in the rest of Luzon (43 percent versus 39 percent).

Between February and May 2009, Mrs. Arroyo’s distrust ratings in class ABC and the Visayas went up by 12 and 13 percentage points, respectively, Pulse Asia said.

Meanwhile, De Castro’s indecision ratings dropped (-13 percentage points) and his distrust ratings increased (+18 percentage points) in the Visayas.

Enrile’s trust ratings also declined in Class ABC and the Visayas (-10 and -14 percentage points, respectively) while public indecision became more pronounced (+11 percentage points) in the Visayas between February and May 2009.

Same results

Malacañang reiterated that the poor ratings of President Arroyo in the performance surveys would not affect her focus on governing the country.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo noted that the survey results have generally been the same over the past years so the latest numbers were not at all surprising for the Palace.

However, Fajardo said that the perceptions raised in the surveys do not necessarily reflect the actual view of the people on the President.

Fajardo pointed out that the people are generally appreciative of Mrs. Arroyo and that this has been seen in all her sorties in the provinces and outside the country.

She added that surveys only gather the opinions of a small percentage of the population so these do not serve as accurate guide to the true pulse of the people. –-Helen Flores with Marvin Sy, AP