Administration gets ‘very good’ mark from SWS

Majority of Filipinos are satisfied with the general performance of the current administration, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed on Thursday. The survey said that 73 percent of respondents are satisfied with the performance of the administration of President Benigno Aquino 3rd while 9 percent are dissatisfied, for a record-high “very good” net satisfaction rating of +64.

It showed that of the 14 specific issues tested on the 1,200 Filipino respondents, the national administration scored “very good” on two issues, “good” on two, “moderate” on seven, “neutral” on two and “poor” on one issue.

“The latest general net satisfaction rating of the national administration has surpassed the previous record-high of ‘good’ +36 in November 1998, and is a bounce-back from the record-low ‘bad’ -45 in March 2010,” the SWS survey said.

According to the survey, the national administration on the specific issues of foreign relations and helping the poor got the same +52 or “very good” net satisfaction ratings.

“It [national administration] obtained ‘good’ net ratings on protecting/promoting human rights [+42] and fighting terrorism [+30],” it also showed.

The SWS survey said that the administration received “moderate” net ratings on distributing lands under land reform with +29, reconciliation with communist rebels, +24; eradicating graft and corruption, +22; reconciliation with Muslim rebels, +22; fighting crimes, +21; ensuring no hunger, +19; and fighting inflation, +19.

While the national administration received “neutral” net ratings of +4 on suppressing politicians with private armies in Mindanao and -5 on resolving the hostage-taking by Rolando Mendoza.

But the administration, the survey said, obtained a “poor” net rating of -12 in resolving the Mindanao massacre case with justice.

The SWS poll said that the net satisfaction rating of the administration improved on 12 out of 14 specific issues.

It added that compared to June 2010, the ratings of the national administration switched from “poor” to “moderate” in eradicating graft and corruption, from -27 to +22, for fighting inflation from -25 to +19 and for ensuring no hunger from -13 to +19.

The national administration, however, scored “moderate” to “very good” for helping the poor, climbed by 37 points from +15 to +52, for protecting/promoting human rights, up by 28 points from +14 to +42 and for foreign relations, up by 24 points from +28 to +52.

While in December 2009, its net satisfaction rating switched from “poor” to “neutral” for suppressing politicians with private armies in Mindanao from -17 to +4.

The survey said that the administration improved in fighting terrorism, up by 26 points from +4 to +30 or from “neutral” to “good,” while in fighting crimes it moved up by 30 points from -9 to +21, for reconciliation with communist rebels, up by 29 points from -5 to +24 and for reconciliation with Muslim rebels, up by 26 points from -4 to +22.

The administration went from “neutral” to “moderate” in distributing lands under land reform from +9 in September 2008 to +29 in September 2010.

Its net satisfaction rating, however, switched from “neutral” to “poor” for resolving the Mindanao massacre case with justice from -2 in December 2009 to -12 in September 2010.

The survey also revealed that in March 2010, the national administration’s net satisfaction ratings for general performance also improved from “bad/very bad to “very good” in all areas and classes.

It was the first one conducted by SWS during the nearly six-month-old Aquino administration.

All the earlier surveys cited for comparison were done during former President Gloria Arroyo’s administration or earlier administrations.

The SWS’ September 2010 survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and has margins of error of plus or minus 3 percent for national percentages and plus or minus 6 percent for area percentages. –OVEE MARIE N. DELA CRUZ REPORTER, Manila Times