Palace shrugs off drop in Aquino’s trust ratings
June 23, 2011
MALACANANG on Wednesday downplayed President Benigno Aquino III’s recent dip in trust ratings, saying these “remained at near-historical highs.”
“Given the margin of error of +/-3 percentage points, the President’s performance rating of 71 percentage points remains statistically unchanged from the previous rating of 74 percentage points recorded in March,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.
In a survey conducted by Pulse Asia from May 21 to June 4, Aquino recorded a 71 percent trust rating, which is slightly lower than his 75 percent rating last March. Instead of being worried, Lacierda said Malacanang welcomed the survey since there was just a slight adjustment and President Aquino still enjoys the trust and confidence of the majority of the people.
“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. This, despite obvious attempts by the enemies of reform to stoke the fires of negativism. 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,” he added.
The survey also disproved the claims of the opposition that the public is no longer satisfied with the President’s performance, Lacierda added.
Earlier, Malacanang also dismissed the drop in the satisfaction ratings of President Aquino conducted by Social Weather Stations last June 3 to 6. The ratings decreased from 69 percent in March to 64 percent in June.
The Palace official believed that the dates when the two surveys were conducted have affected the results of the survey.
“It would have a difference because it would depend on the event that was taken up during those period,” he said.
He, meanwhile, refused to attribute the drop of the ratings to the performance of the communications group.
“Survey is a snapshot of the time when it was taken. And also one year has passed and we believe that what we have planted will soon be reaping,” he said.
He noted that the ratings of the President will be redeemed by the increase in infrastructure spending in the second quarter and the continuous assistance of the government to poor families through the conditional cash transfer.
“We are going to register two million beneficiaries within this month. We have a target of 2.3 million this year and next year our target three million households,” he said.
“The next survey will be done three months from now. We will have infrastructure spending. We have started doing the underpass along Araneta Avene and Quezon Avenue. It will take us 420 days to finish these projects,” he added.
He said the government agencies will continue to disseminate good news and accomplishments of the Aquino administration.
Meanwhile, Lacierda got irked when asked to comment on the statement of Zambales Representative Mitos Magsaysay saying the firmness and fairness of President Aquino in handling the country’s issues affect his ratings.
“I think that particular statement would apply more to her patron rather than to this present President. The ratings of this president remains to be high, second term lang ng kanyang partona mababa na ang kanyang ratings. But we are not after the ratings per se we do our jobs regardless of what the ratings are,” he said.
High consumer prices whittle Aquino ratings
While Filipinos continue to approve and trust Aquino, his administration’s response to tame consumer prices have been found wanting.
Pulse Asia noted that between October 2010 and May 2011, the President’s overall approval rating actually declined by eight percentage points (79 percent versus 71 percent).
The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 people, with a margin of error of plus/minus three percent for national and plus/minus six percent for area percentages at 95 percent confidence level.
Similarly, his national trust rating decreased by nine percentage points (80 percent versus 71 percent).
Dissecting through issues, the President and his Cabinet has managed to get a majority approval grade in six issues: fighting criminality (60 percent), enforcing the law equally on all Filipinos (57 percent) and improving the national peace situation (57 percent).
The government also scored well in fighting bureaucratic corruption (56 percent), creating more jobs (53 percent) and increasing workers’ pay (51 percent).
Militants groups have repeatedly chided President Aquino for junking the proposal of P125-legislated wage increase amid oil price hikes, which triggered a domino effect on prices of consumer goods.
Instead, minimum wage employees in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Eastern Visayas got an emergency cost of living allowance last month.
Earlier, the Partido ng Manggaggawa (PM) said the cost of living in Metro Manila is already P1,010 as of March for a family of six and yet the minimum wage of P404 plus Ecola adds up to only P426.
Inflation hit a 13-month high of 4.5 percent in May due to price increases in clothing, fuel, light and water (FLW) and miscellaneous items.
Public opinion is split with regard to the administration’s efforts to control inflation, an issue which 53 percent of Filipinos said the Aquino administration must immediately address.
Of this number, 39 percent of Filipinos said they were appreciative, 29 percent were critical and 32 percent were ambivalent towards the administration’s performance.
Pulse Asia attributed this to events that transpired during the survey period, which include the increase in pump prices, the decline in power charges by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the deferment of the train fare hike.
Meantime, the number of Filipinos who are unable to say if they approve or disapprove of the President’s work in the past three months increased by three percentage points during the past two months (21 percent in May versus 18 percent in March).
The same level of ambivalence was also registered in the President’s trust rating after inching up two percentage points to 22 percent in May from 20 percent last March.
Still, President Aquino enjoys majority approval and trust ratings across geographic and socioeconomic areas, Pulse Asia said.
By comparison, the President’s satisfaction rating took another dive this month, from a +51 “very good” last March to +46 “good” in a survey released by Social Weather Stations on Tuesday. (Jill Beltran/Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/06/22/palace-shrugs-drop-aquinos-trust-ratings-162626
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