MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino’s approval and trust ratings slightly declined in the past three months, a new Pulse Asia survey revealed yesterday.
Pulse Asia’s Ulat ng Bayan survey, conducted from May 21 to June 4, found 71 percent of Filipinos expressing approval and trust in the President.
Less than one in 10 is critical of his performance (eight percent) and distrust him (seven percent).
Pulse Asia said the same percentages of Filipinos are unable to say if they approve or disapprove of the President’s work in the past three months (21 percent) and are undecided as regards his trustworthiness (22 percent).
The non-commissioned survey was released a little over a week before Aquino marks his first year in office.
“For the most part, the new figures do not differ significantly from the presidential ratings recorded in March 2011,” Pulse Asia said.
In its March poll, 74 percent of Filipinos said they approved of the President’s performance while 75 percent expressed trust in him.
“However, it may be noted that between October 2010 and May 2011, the President’s overall approval rating declined by 8 percentage points while his national trust rating decreased by 9 percentage points,” Pulse Asia said.
In May 2011, Aquino enjoyed majority approval ratings across geographic areas ranging from 57 percent in Metro Manila to 79 percent in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, across socio-economic classes, approval levels vary from 63 percent in the best-off Class ABC to 77 percent in the poorest Class E.
With regard to disapproval ratings, double-digit figures obtain in Class ABC (14 percent) and Metro Manila (15 percent) while single-digit ratings are posted in the other geographic areas (six percent to seven percent) and socio-economic classes (five percent to eight percent).
Levels of public ambivalence are nearly constant across geographic areas (15 percent to 28 percent) and socio-economic groupings (18 percent to 23 percent).
Between March and May 2011, public approval for presidential performance eased (15 percentage points) while public indecision became more pronounced (+12 percentage points) in the Visayas.
“These are the only significant changes in presidential performance ratings during this period,” Pulse Asia said.
With respect to presidential trust ratings, majority figures are registered in all geographic areas (56 percent to 76 percent) and socio-economic classes (63 percent to 78 percent).
Mindanaoans (76 percent) and those in Class E (78 percent) are most inclined to trust the President, the pollster said.
In contrast, double-digit distrust ratings were recorded in Class ABC (12 percent) and Metro Manila (15 percent) while single-digit figures was noted in the other geographic areas (six percent to seven percent) and socio-economic classes (five percent to eight percent).
It said the same levels of public indecision concerning presidential trustworthiness were recorded in the different geographic areas of the country (17 percent to 29 percent) and socio-economic groupings (17 percent to 25 percent).
Aquino’s trust ratings in Metro Manila and the Visayas declined by double-digit margins between March and May 2011 (-13 and -14 percentage points), Pulse Asia said.
Moreover, there is a double-digit increase in the level of public ambivalence as regards presidential trustworthiness in the Visayas (+11 percentage points).
“The changes recorded in the other geographic areas and socio-economic classes are marginal at best,” it said.
Meanwhile, the Aquino administration obtained majority approval ratings on six out of 11 national issues, the survey showed.
Pulse Asia said most Filipinos think the current administration has done well on six issue areas – fighting criminality (60 percent), enforcing the law equally on all Filipinos (57 percent), improving the national peace situation (57 percent), fighting corruption in government (56 percent), creating more jobs (53 percent) and increasing workers’ pay (51 percent).
Increasing workers’ pay is considered an urgent national concern by 54 percent of Filipinos (i.e., it is an issue that should be acted upon immediately by the Aquino administration), it said.
However, the Aquino administration performs relatively poorly on another issue deemed as urgent by 53 percent of Filipinos – controlling inflation. On this issue, only 39 percent expressed approval for the Aquino administration’s performance while 29 percent disapproved and 32 percent is ambivalent on the matter.
The administration obtained approval ratings on three other key issues – protecting the environment (50 percent), strengthening public trust in the government and its officials (49 percent) and controlling population growth (48 percent).
On the issue of poverty reduction, practically the same percentages of Filipinos either approved of the administration’s work (40 percent) or expressed indecision on the matter (39 percent).
On the other hand, single-digit disapproval ratings were recorded by the administration on two issues – enforcing the law equally on all citizens (nine percent) and strengthening public trust in the government and its officials (nine percent).
With respect to public indecision, figures range from 29 percent on the issue of fighting criminality to 42 percent on the issue of strengthening public trust in government and its officials.
Pulse Asia’s nationwide survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above. It used sampling error margin of plus or minus three percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
On Tuesday, survey firm Social Weather Stations (SWS) reported that the President’s net satisfaction rating dropped from 51 in March to 46 in June.
Palace glad with people’s trust
Malacañang is glad that people continue to trust President Aquino as shown by the latest Pulse Asia survey of 1,200 respondents nationwide, where seven of 10 Filipinos approve of his performance.
“The President is grateful to the people for this vote of confidence, and remains committed to leading them on the straight and righteous path to equitable progress,” said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda.
Lcierda said this is good news for the administration because the public still believes Aquino “despite obvious attempts by the enemies of reform to stoke the fires of negativism,” referring to the political opposition.
“The latest Ulat ng Bayan numbers reflect wide-ranging support for the administration’s efforts to curb corruption, pursue inclusive growth, and provide basic services to the people,” Lacierda said in a statement.
Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office was also pleased with the results. “His mandate is based on the people’s trust. That he continues to enjoy the same high level of trust is a source of inspiration for him and his Cabinet.”
Lacierda said the performance and trust ratings of Aquino remained at near-historic highs.
Ang Kasangga sa Kaunlaran party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco said the declining approval ratings should not worry Aquino who still has the support of the majority of Filipinos.
He said the surveys showed the middle class remains supportive of the President.
He, however, suggested that Palace spokespersons act less “arrogant and smug” as they turn off the public and often complicate already critical issues such as the brewing tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
He said Palace spokespersons should first check with Aquino before talking. “They keep putting P-Noy in a corner. Wasting away his time and credibility in having to constantly clarify the statements of his mouthpieces,” Haresco said.
Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo attributed the decline in ratings to the mismanagement of the economy.
“We are leaderless so to speak,” Arroyo said.
Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said many Filipinos are dissatisfied with Aquino “because he has not done anything concrete that will positively affect their lives.”
“PNoy was too focused on politicking and hitting back at his detractors and political enemies that he forgot to govern,” Magsaysay said.
Senators defended Aquino over the decline in his approval rating.
Majority leader Vicente Sotto III said the President should not allow himself to be affected but rather focus on his administration’s goals.
Sotto said the President should be given leeway in bringing the country to its potential by doing what he thinks would be right for the country.
“It’s a natural dip since this is a new administration and the public have high expectations and these could not be felt yet since (Aquino is) barely a year in office,” said Sen. Francis Escudero.
He said the positive results of the President’s projects will trickle down in a few more months or years as he reaches his six years in office.
Sen. Miguel Zubiri said people could not undermine Aquino’s efforts to curb corruption in the government despite a drop in his ratings.
“Charges have been filed against some personalities involved in graft and corruption. So this has a chilling effect on the members of the bureaucracy whether in a department or in a commission,” Zubiri said.
Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said the poor performance of some Cabinet members might have contributed to the decline in Aquino’s popularity.
Bagaforo told the Church-run Radio Veritas that the dip in the latest survey could be an indication that there are Filipinos who might be dissatisfied with his administration’s failure to live up to his promises. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star) with Delon Porcalla, Paolo Romero, Christina Mendez, Evelyn Macairan
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