Written by Mia Gonzalez / Reporter
Monday, 23 November 2009 21:26
PUBLIC disapproval and distrust continue to be the predominant sentiment of Filipinos toward President Arroyo eight months before she leaves office, the results of the latest Pulse Asia Inc. survey showed.Pulse Asia also said in a press statement that none of the other top government officials—Vice President Noli de Castro, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Speaker Prospero Nograles and Chief Justice Reynato Puno—obtained a majority approval rating based on its October survey results.
“Filipinos critical of presidential performance and who distrust President Arroyo continue to greatly outnumber those with a positive opinion about the President’s work and her trustworthiness [51 percent and 52 percent versus 19 percent and 21 percent],” said Ana Maria Tabunda, Pulse Asia chief research fellow.
Tabunda said the Presidential Performance and Trust Ratings and Performance Ratings of Other Top National Government Officials from the October 2009 “Ulat ng Bayan” national survey of Pulse Asia showed that “nearly three in 10 Filipinos are ambivalent as regards the performance of President Arroyo [27 percent], and cannot say if they trust or distrust her [29 percent].”
She said that while Mrs. Arroyo’s overall approval and trust ratings are “practically unchanged” between August and October 2009, the President’s disapproval and distrust ratings increased by 8 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
The President’s approval rating dipped from 23 percent to 21 percent during the period, and her trust rating from 21 percent to 19 percent.
Tabunda said this is because “public ambivalence regarding President Arroyo’s performance and trustworthiness becomes less pronounced during this period [-7 and -8 percentage points, respectively].”
She said Mrs. Arroyo posted majority disapproval ratings in the rest of Luzon (52 percent); Classes A, B, C and D (52 percent to 58 percent); and Metro Manila (61 percent); while those in Mindanao (44 percent) and Class E (47 percent) “are least inclined to disapprove of presidential performance.”
“Majority distrust ratings may be noted in almost all geographic areas and socioeconomic groupings [52 percent to 64 percent], with the exception of Mindanao [43 percent] and Class E [48 percent],” Tabunda said.
She said public indecision toward presidential performance in October is “most pronounced in Mindanao [32 percent] and least manifest in Metro Manila and Classes A, B and C [23 percent].”
“Mindanaoans are more ambivalent on the matter of trusting or distrusting President Arroyo, while indecision is lowest in Class ABC [33 percent versus 24 percent],” she said.
She added that while indecision levels on presidential performance declined in Classes A, B, C and D and the rest of Luzon (-7 to -14 percentage points), “levels of public ambivalence as regards President Arroyo’s trustworthiness decrease in all socioeconomic groupings, the rest of Luzon, and Mindanao (-7 to -14 percentage points).”
Tabunda said that among social groups, the poorest Class E is “relatively more appreciative of presidential performance and also trust President Arroyo the most.”
Metro Manilans are least inclined to approve of the President’s work (15 percent), and they give her a single-digit trust rating (9 percent).
The President’s approval and trust ratings improved in Mindanao by 7 and 8 percentage points, respectively, but approval and trust levels declined in the Visayas by 13 percentage points during the period.
Reacting to the survey results, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Lorelei Fajardo said in a news briefing that the administration is “more concerned on results” and impact of government programs on Filipinos rather than “opinion-based” surveys.
“We don’t think it represents a significant number of Filipinos, and I think it would be more objective if we would judge the performance of the President based on her work ethics and her accomplishments. I think she would fare rather higher than the result of the survey,” Fajardo said.
She said the level of public distrust for the Chief Executive is apparently due to unfavorable media reports that drown out her accomplishments, which is why the survey results could also help the government strive to better communicate its programs to the public.
Pulse Asia also said that among the other top national government officials, the Vice President scored the highest approval rating of 43 percent, but this is 12 percentage points less than his rating in August.
De Castro’s disapproval rating also increased from 16 percent to 27 percent.
Enrile’s approval rating decreased by 3 percentage points, or from 39 percent to 36 percent, while his disapproval rating increased from 20 percent to 25 percent; Nograles obtained an approval rating of 21 percent (from 19 percent) and disapproval rating of 39 percent, up by 9 percentage points from August.
Puno’s approval rating increased by 2 percentage points (34 percent to 36 percent), and his disapproval rating by 5 percent (20 percent to 25 percent).
During the survey period, the main issues included the bid of former President Joseph Estrada to seek the presidency and legal questions hounding his quest; Sen. Loren Legarda’s declaration to run for vice president; Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno’s withdrawal from the vice-presidential race; and Sen. Francis Escudero’s departure from the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
Other main topics were the search of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Sen. Manuel Villar for a running mate; the resignation of Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.; the continuing relief efforts for typhoon victims; and the price freeze on oil products and basic commodities.
The nationwide survey, which was conducted on 1,800 representative adults, has a ± 2-percent error margin at the 95-percent confidence level.
Subnational estimates for geographic areas covered in the survey have the following error margins at 95-percent confidence level: ± 6 percent for Metro Manila, ±4 percent for the rest of Luzon and ±5 percent for each of Visayas and Mindanao.
Source: http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/nation/18885-distrust-disapproval-continue-to-hound-arroyopulse-asia.html
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