PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd’s satisfaction rating dropped by one point but he still enjoys “good” scores compared to those who headed previous administrations, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed on Monday.
The survey results, which were first published in BusinessWorld, showed that from +46 (64 percent satisfied, 18 percent dissatisfied and 18 percent undecided) in March, President Aquino’s satisfaction rating went down to +45 (62 percent satisfied, 17 percent dissatisfied and 19 percent undecided) in June.
The current rating of the President was substantially lower than the record “very good” +64 he got in September and November 2010.
But the survey showed that Mr. Aquino’s rating was still higher than all other ratings recorded since 1986.
It said that the best previous rating was a “good” +36 of then President Joseph Estrada in November 1998.
By areas, classes
The pollster said that the President’s overall performance was up in Mindanao but fell in all other areas as compared to the March survey.
It added that in Mindanao, his rating increased by 10 points to “very good” +57 and remained at “good” in Balance Luzon (Luzon without Metro Manila) but dipped by five points to +37.
In Metro Manila and the Visayas, the President’s ratings both fell to “good” from “very good” scores—two points to +48 and four points to +47.
By classes, the President’s ratings rose in Class ABC (26-point increase to a “good” +45) and in Class D or the masses (two-point increase to “good” +48) but down in the Class E (14 points down to a “good” +36).
Good in 17 issues
The SWS said that Mr. Aquino scored well on 17 specific issues, with record highs hit in helping migrant Filipinos and pursuing tax evaders.
Of the 17 specific issues, the President scored “good” in five, “moderate” in eight, “neutral” in three and “poor” in one.
The pollster also revealed that two issues were new to the survey and the SWS said that it repeats only a “core” set, with others added or dropped depending on their “contemporary salience.”
In promoting the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Mr. Aquino scored a record “good” +41, surpassing the “moderate” +33 recorded in March 2000.
The migrant worker issue was last tested by the survey agency in December 2009 when the score was a “moderate” +26.
The Aquino administration’s highest specific score came from being prepared for strong typhoons—the first time this issue was included in the survey—at a “good” +46.
Other “good” ratings involved 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 involved: housing for the poor (+27, down three points from March); reconciliation with Moro rebels (+25, down seven points from March); reconciliation with communist rebels (+23, down eight points from March); fighting crimes (+23, up three points from March); prosecuting tax evaders (+22, up significantly from “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).
Neutral to poor
The three “neutral” net ratings were recorded on 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).
But the pollster said that the President got a poor mark on the resolution of the Maguindanao massacre case where 57 people, including 31 journalists, were killed in November 2009.
Butthe latest score on the issue of -16 was slightly better than the -19 recorded in March.
Moreover, the President’s score on prosecuting tax evaders was a new peak, surpassing the previous record of a “moderate” +33 recorded in March 2000.
The SWS classifies net satisfaction scores of +70 and above as “excellent;” +50 to +69, “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;” and -70 and below “execrable.”
The SWS survey, which was conducted on June 3 to 6, 2011, used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, Balance of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao and had a margins of error of plus or minus 3 percent for national percentages and plus or minus 6 percent for area percentages.
The agency said that the latest survey was non-commissioned and was done on its own initiative.
