Cabinet gets high mark in poll

By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star), October 29, 2016

MANILA, Philippines – The Cabinet’s net satisfaction rating in the first three months of President Duterte’s government surpassed the rating of the Cabinets of past administrations during the same period, according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The poll found 49 percent of respondents satisfied and 13 percent dissatisfied with the performance of Duterte’s Cabinet, yielding a “good” +36 net satisfaction score.

The survey was conducted from Sept. 24 to 27, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.

The current Cabinet outdid predecessors in initial net satisfaction ratings of a “moderate” +22 in a Sept. 24-27, 2010 survey of that of former president Benigno Aquino III; the “moderate” +14 in a March 5-18, 2001 of former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; the “moderate” +18 in the Sept. 11-29, 1998 poll under Joseph Estrada; the equally “moderate” +17 in the March 19-April 21, 1994 survey during the term of Fidel Ramos, and the “poor” -16 recorded on Nov. 12-Dec. 5, 1990 during the time of the late president Corazon Aquino.

The same survey found 66 percent satisfied and 14 percent dissatisfied with the performance of the Senate, yielding a “very good” +52 net satisfaction score that was flat from June.

The House of Representatives, on the other hand, obtained a “good” +38 (53 percent satisfied, 14 percent dissatisfied) in the first three months of the Duterte administration.

This was four percentage points below the “good” +42 recorded in June.

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, suffered a four-percentage-point decline from +44 in June to +40 (54 percent satisfied, 14 percent dissatisfied).

SWS noted that the high court’s net satisfaction ratings have been above +20 levels since September 2010, except in May 2012 when it recorded a “moderate” +13.

Results of the latest SWS poll were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.

SWS classifies net satisfaction ratings of at least +70 as “excellent”; +50 to +69 as “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”, +9 to -9, “neutral”; -10 to -29, “poor”; -30 to -49, “bad”; -50 to -69, “very bad”; as well as -70 and below, “execrable.”