SWS: Noy rating steady at 62%

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration maintained a “good” net satisfaction rating in the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The SWS poll, conducted from June 3 to 6, found 62 percent of respondents satisfied and 17 percent dissatisfied with the performance of the administration for a net score of +45 percent.

The survey results last June were down by a point from March and significantly lower than the record “very good” +64 percent achieved in September and November last year.

However, the rating is still higher than all other scores recorded since 1986, the SWS said.

The best previous rating was the “good” +36 obtained by the Estrada administration in November 1998.

The poll found respondents expressing satisfaction with the Aquino government’s performance regarding 17 specific issues, with record highs in terms of helping migrant Filipinos and pursuing tax evaders.

The only failing mark, although higher than its March score, involved the resolution of the Maguindanao massacre, according to the SWS survey published yesterday in the newspaper BusinessWorld.

The release of the SWS poll coincided with President Aquino’s second State of the Nation Address yesterday.

SWS said satisfaction with the Aquino administration’s general performance rose in Mindanao but fell in all other areas. By socioeconomic class it rose among the ABC, stayed the same among the D or “masa,” and fell among class E.

In Mindanao, the score improved by 10 points to a “very good” +57. It stayed “good” in balance Luzon but was down five points to +37.

Its rating fell to “good” from “very good” levels in the Visayas and Metro Manila, down by four points to +47 in the former and two points to +48 in the latter.

By class, a 26-point increase to a “good” +45 was noted among class ABC. A two-point gain, meanwhile, was recorded among the masa to a “good” +48 but the score dropped by 14 points in the E category to a “good” +36.

Out of the 17 specific issues rated by SWS, the administration scored a “good” on five, “moderate” on eight, “neutral” on three and “poor” on one. SWS said two issues were added in its June survey and explained that it repeats only a “core” set, with others were added/dropped depending on their “contemporary salience.”

The government scored a record “good” +41 with regard to promoting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers, surpassing the previous peak, a “moderate” +33 hit in March 2000. The issue was last tested by the SWS in December 2009 when the score was a “moderate” +26.

The administration’s highest score was achieved in terms of being prepared for strong typhoons, the first time this issue was included in the survey, at a “good” +46.

It also obtained “good” ratings in helping the poor (+44, down three points from March), foreign relations (+43, down a point from March) and fighting terrorism (+30, up a point from three months earlier).

The eight “moderate” ratings were achieved in the following issues: housing for the poor (+27, down three points from March); reconciliation with Muslim rebels (+25, down seven points from March); reconciliation with communist rebels (+23, down eight points from March); fighting crime (+23, up three points from March); prosecuting tax evaders (+22, up significantly from the “poor” -11 when the issue was last tested in May 2005); deciding quickly on important problems (+22, down a point from March); suppressing private armies in Mindanao (+17, down seven points from March); and eradicating graft and corruption (+16, up two points from March).

The government’s score on prosecuting tax evaders hit a new record high, surpassing the previous record of a “moderate” +33 in March 2000.

“Neutral” net ratings, meanwhile, were obtained in the issues of fighting inflation (+4, up four points from zero in March), ensuring no family will be hungry (+4, down a point from March) and ensuring that oil firms do not take advantage of oil prices (zero; this was the first time that the issue was included).

It continued to score “poor” in terms of resolving the Maguindanao massacre, although its latest score of -16 was slightly higher than March’s -19.

The SWS second quarter survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.

It had sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national and plus or minus six percentage points for area percentages. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)