Binay, Cabinet ratings up — SWS

Approval ratings for Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte and Chief Justice Renato Corona edged higher, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS), as public appreciation for President Aquino’s performance continues to take a slide.

Binay garnered a +74 satisfaction rating in March, his highest to date compared to November’s +57, according to the SWS.

The Vice President’s successful mission to China where he was able to convince the Chinese government to stay the execution of three Filipino drug mules in February jacked up Binay popularity ratings. China carried on the executions last Wednesday, a month after it was postponed.

Binay, who obtained a high satisfaction rating for the second straight time in two weeks, vowed “to work even more” in fulfilling his duties and ensuring the protection of thousands of overseas Filipino workers.

“I am very grateful to President Aquino for his trust and for inspiring us in the Cabinet with his leadership. As I have said, good performance proceeds from good leadership and good policy directions,” Binay, concurrent presidential adviser on overseas Filipino workers, said. “The people’s support inspires us in government to work even more.”

“I have been directed by the President to make sure that under his administration, our countrymen abroad will finally receive the service and attention they deserve from their government,” he added.

SWS earlier has reported Aquino’s net satisfaction score went down to +51 (69 percent satisfied minus 18 percent dissatisfied) from +64.

Enrile’s net satisfaction rating rose to +43 (62 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied) from +34 previously while Belmonte’s net score improved to +17 (40 percent satisfied, 22 percent dissatisfied) from +7.

Corona also posted improved ratings from -7 to -4.

The Aquino Cabinet also saw its net score rise to +24, its second highest in 12 years — from +20.

The SWS was conducted from March 4-7 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Meanwhile, an opposition leader in the House of Representatives yesterday chided President Aquino, saying only his “braggadocio and repeated breast-beatings have escalated” his trust and approval ratings and some of the country’s economic indicators ominously plunged.

House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman stressed that while the post-election euphoria has not only begun to vanish, the Aquino administration’s lackadaisical performance and anemic implementation of its ballyhooed socio-economic agenda have started to surface.

“Following in the heels of Aquino’s five percentage point decline in performance and trust scores nationwide, are the following adverse ratings of major economic indicators: (a) The recent Asean business survey showed that majority of foreign investors would refuse to invest in the Philippines; (b) The Philippines’ corruption rating worsened to 8.9 from 8.25 in a scale of one to 10 in a survey covering the period from November 2010 to February 2011 which was conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (Perc); (c) The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported that the unemployment rate hit 7.4 percent in January 2011 even before thousands of displaced overseas Filipino workers returned as a result of the ongoing crises in the Middle East and Northern Africa, while Aquino’s disapproval rating on “creation of more jobs” went up from 11 percent to 19 percent; and (d) The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported that the Filipino consumer confidence index for the first quarter of 2011 went down to -23.1 percent from -8.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 as the Aquino administration fails to address the spiralling of prices of fuel and basic commodities,” the solon narrated.

Lagman noted Aquino’s disapproval rating on “controlling inflation” ballooned to 31 percent from 21 percent and on “reducing poverty” to 26 percent from 18 percent.

“These poor economic indicators cannot just be swept under the braggadocio rug.” Michaela P. del Callar and Charlie V. Manalo, Daily Tribune