61% of Pinoys dissatisfied with GMA – SWS

MANILA, Philippines – Barely six months before President Arroyo steps down, a majority or 61 percent of Filipino adults continue to be dissatisfied with her performance, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in its survey.

The Fourth Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey, conducted from Dec. 5 to 10, showed that 23 percent of respondents were satisfied while 61 percent were dissatisfied with Mrs. Arroyo’s performance, giving her a “bad” net satisfaction rating of -38.

SWS said the President’s new satisfaction rating was unchanged from the net -38 (23 percent satisfied, 62 percent dissatisfied) in September 2009.

The non-commissioned survey also found that dissatisfaction with Mrs. Arroyo eased in Luzon outside Metro Manila, but worsened in the Visayas and Mindanao.

The net satisfaction rating of Mrs. Arroyo improved by 10 points in Luzon outside Metro Manila, to -35 (24 percent satisfied, 59 percent dissatisfied) in December, from -45 (19 percent satisfied, 64 percent dissatisfied) in September.

In Metro Manila, it was two points better at -44 (19 percent satisfied, 63 percent dissatisfied) in the last quarter, from -46 (21 percent satisfied, 66 percent dissatisfied) in the previous quarter.

However, it worsened by 13 points in the Visayas to -45 (21 percent satisfied, 66 percent dissatisfied) from -32 (26 percent satisfied, 58 percent dissatisfied) previously.

It also fell by eight points in Mindanao, to a bad -35 (26 percent satisfied, 60 percent dissatisfied, correctly rounded), from a poor -27 (30 percent satisfied, 57 percent dissatisfied).

The survey also revealed that urban satisfaction with the President went to 22 percent in December from 21 percent in September, while dissatisfaction went to 62 percent from 65 percent, slightly improving her urban net satisfaction rating by four points to -40.

On the other hand, rural satisfaction with the President went to 24 percent from 25 percent, while dissatisfaction went to 60 percent from 59 percent, hardly changing her rural net rating at -35 from the -34 in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the new survey showed that Mrs. Arroyo’s net satisfaction rating rose by 20 points in class ABC, to a bad -34 (27 percent satisfied, 62 percent dissatisfied, correctly rounded) in December, from a very bad -54 (17 percent satisfied, 70 percent dissatisfied, correctly rounded) in September.

However, it stayed bad in class D or the “masa,” at -40 (22 percent satisfied, 62 percent dissatisfied), from -39 (23 percent satisfied, 62 percent dissatisfied).

It also stayed bad in class E, at -35 (24 percent satisfied, 59 percent dissatisfied), from -34 (26 percent satisfied, 60 percent dissatisfied).

Compared to the previous quarter, SWS said satisfaction with Mrs. Arroyo among women stayed at 23 percent, while dissatisfaction went to 60 percent from 61 percent, keeping the women’s net satisfaction score bad at -37.

Among men, satisfaction with the President stayed at 23 percent, while dissatisfaction went to 62 percent from 63 percent, keeping her net rating bad at -39.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 2,100 adults divided into random samples of 300 in Metro Manila and 600 each in balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

It has sampling error margins of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points for national percentages, plus or minus six percentage points for Metro Manila and plus or minus four percentage points for balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

SWS defined net satisfaction ratings as follows: +50 and above, “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”; +9 to -9, “neutral”; -10 to -29, “poor”; -30 to -49, “bad”; -50 or lower, “very bad.”

The net satisfaction rating is the difference between the percentage of satisfied and unsatisfied responses. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)