Arroyo rating drops to -38, like FM in ‘86

July 31, 2008  --  Got something to say?
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MANILA = President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s public satisfaction rating has plunged to minus 38, the lowest level ever recorded for a chief executive since President Marcos before his fall in 1986, according to the second quarter national survey of the Social Weather Stations.
Malacanang said the ratings plunge can be attributed to rising prices of basic goods and oil. But political analysts said it could be traced to her failure to improve the lives of the poor and her decision to push through with her extended trip to the United States while Typhoon Frank devastated the Philippines.
While Malacanang shrug off the results, critics of the President and opposition politicians slammed her.
Bishop Deogracias Iniquez, head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’s public affairs committee, asked Arroyo to “seriously take” the results of the survey. Opposition politicians blamed the low rating for Arroyo’s callous disregard of the peoples’ suffering during Typhoon Frank last month.
The low rating, they said, was similar to that of 1986 when dictator Marcos was about to be deposed in the People’s Power revolution. Compared to other Presidents after Marcos, the lowest rating of Presidents Corazon Aquino was a positive 7 in November 1990 and April 1992, that of President Fidel Ramos at positive 1 in October 1995 and that of President Joseph Estrada at positive 5 in
December 1999 and March 2000.
Later, Press Secretary Jesus Durez said the President will work even harder to make decisions she deems beneficial for the country even at t he cost of her popularity.
Dureza said: “Ang Pangulo lalong tumitindi ang kanyang trabaho pag
ganito iyung mga sinasabi na mababa ang kanyang popularity, kaya
araw-araw nasa labas siya at sa trabaho siya tutok. Governance is very
important?Hindi (siya) apektado, mas lalong tumitindi ang kanyang
focus,” he said.
The net satisfaction rating is the difference of the 22% who said they
approved of Mrs. Arroyo’s performance and the 60% who disagreed, and
tops the previous low of -33 also recorded under the current
administration last May 2005.
The latest survey, made exclusive to “BusinessWorld”, was conducted by
the SWS from June 27-30. It used face to face interviews of 1,200 adults
divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, the rest of
Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The error margins are plus or minus 3% at
the national level and plus or minus 6% for area percentages.
The question was: “Please tell me how satisfied or dissatisfied you are
in the performance of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as President of the
Philippines. Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, undecided if
satisfied or dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, very dissatisfied?”
Mrs. Arroyo’s scores have declined over the last four quarters, with the
last relatively favorable rating a neutral -3 in June 2007. The
succeeding scores, in chronological order, are -11, -16, -26, and the
latest -38.
“Gross dissatisfaction”, the SWS said, had for the first time hit
majorities in all study areas: 63% in Metro Manila, 60% in the Balance
of Luzon, 56% in the Visayas, and 62% in Mindanao.
Mrs. Arroyo’s net satisfaction rating in the Visayas - said to be where
she traditionally draws the strongest support - fell 18 points to a
record low of -33 in June from -15 in March.
A similar record low was recorded in Mindanao, where her net
satisfaction rating fell to -41 from -33.
It was down 13 points in the Balance of Luzon to -38 and by three points
in Metro Manila to -40. Historical lows in both areas are -47 and -48,
respectively.
Her scores in terms of urban and rural areas also fell: by 11 points
both to -38 in the former and -37 in the latter.
Dissatisfaction also worsened in all socioeconomic classes, with the
middle-to-upper ABC classes “just as dissatisfied now as the masa or
class D,” the SWS said.
It fell the most among the ABC classes, down by 23 points to -37 (22%
satisfied, 59% dissatisfied) in June. The previous record low for ABCs
was -34 in May 2005. It had been positive in February, June and
September 2007, when the ratings for the lower D and E classes were
negative or zero, SWS said.
Among the masa it fell 11 points to -35, topping the previous record of
-34 in May 2005.
For Class E it was down eight points to -45, also exceeding the previous
record of -37 in March 2008.
Asked to comment, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Anthony T. Golez, Jr.
said “That survey coincides with the global crisis of having high prices
of oil and food which directly affects the prices of gasoline and food
in the country. A lot of people are mistaken in blaming the government
for it when it is something that no Filipino can stop, not even the
President.”
Golez said the President would not be distracted by the latest
results, and claimed the scores would serve as “a challenge for her to
work harder.”
Ramon C. Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and
Electoral Reforms, said Mrs. Arroyo’s low ratings can be attributed to
her decision to push through with the official trip to the US even as
typhoon “Frank” battered the country and in the process caused a major
ferry disaster.
“The immediate factor was the typhoon. People were angry because she
went to the US on the same day the typhoon made landfall in the country
… It reflected the quality of leadership,” he said in Pilipino.
The trip drew flak from sectors who claimed the President should have
personally supervised relief operations. Mrs. Arroyo, however, said she
was confident in local officials’ capabilities and added that the trip
had strengthened bilateral ties.
Mr. Casiple also said the poor were discontented since rising prices of
goods had made life harsher.
“The impression of the people is that the government is one of the
forces that make their lives burdensome. They can see that every time
prices of oil go up, the revenue of the government increases.
“These poor people have experienced hardships. They are people who are
hungry, who have problems sending their children to school or buying
medicines. The President may not be able to recover at the rate she is
going.”


Posted by News Team | Filed Under Philippine News 

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