23%-plunge in his popularity rating a wake-up call for Aquino, says Mikey

With a 23 percent-plunge in his trust rating, former presidential son and now Ang Galing Pinoy Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo yesterday said President Aquino should start rethinking his line of governance and veer away from blaming the past administration for the country’s political and economic problems.

In a text message, Arroyo said while allies of the President are rejoicing on Aquino’s +60 percent net satisfaction rating, they have overlooked that the President’s popularity rating slid down by 23 percent from a high of 83 percent when he took his oath.

According to Arroyo, the drastic decline in Aquino’s popularity only after three months in office only shows that his line of governance centered on vengeance against the former administration and garnering “pogi points” through publicity stunts such as his anti-wang-wang and anti-billboard campaigns and hotdog feasts is not working.

“People, particularly those who supported him are disappointed as they are seeking and wanting concrete government programs that would help alleviate them from their economic woes and a strong political will to address the country’s socio-political problems. And if this decline in his popularity, if unchecked, would only result in further divisiveness among the people,” Arroyo said.

The eldest son of the former President added the decline in Aquino’s popularity should serve as a wake-up call for him.

“The election campaign had long been over and he should now start focusing his energies to unite the country and address the country’s socio-political and economic problems instead of training his guns elsewhere,” Arroyo said.

However, Diwa Rep. Em Aglipay said that 60 percent net satisfactory rating for a President only 100 days in office is still high.

“I don’t believe that the decline in his trust rating is enough to say that people have lost trust in him. While the dip was relatively high, we should take note that there were some factors which have contributed to that, particularly the handling of the hostage-taking fiasco,” Aglipay said.

“However, President Aquino’s latest act shows he is on the right track. And that is highly manifested in his creation of the IIRC and his decision to mete penalties to those found to have neglected their duties with regard to the hostage-taking incident,” she added.

Aglipay said the President could also view this latest survey result as a challenge to do what people expect from him and improve his governance. He could start by coming up with a firm stand for the Reproductive Health Bill and show his decisiveness and clear stand on the issue.

“In doing that, I believe that the decline in his popularity rating would not only be arrested but he might as well regains the points he lost and muling tataas ang kanyang approval rating,” she said.  –Charlie V. Manalo, Daily Tribune