Seven months to go before President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo bows out of office, majority of Filipinos still disapprove of her performance and even distrust her, a public opinion pollster said Monday. Pulse Asia’s latest Ulat ng Bayan survey also showed more Filipinos – from 16 percent in August to 27 percent in October – were not satisfied with Vice President Noli de Castro’s performance. “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," it said. The latest survey showed that about one of two Filipinos (51 percent) disapproves of Mrs. Arroyo’s work, while one in two Filipinos (52 percent) doesn't trust her. Last August, Mrs. Arroyo had a disapproval rating of 43 percent and a distrust rating of 42 percent. The said survey was conducted from July 28 to August 10. This is the first time that Mrs. Arroyo’s disapproval ratings reached 51 percent from October 2008 to October 2009. See table below:
Source: Pulse Asia However, her distrust ratings already ranged from 51 percent to 52 percent from October 2008 to October 2009. See table below:
Source: Pulse Asia Other officials More people disapproved of De Castro’s performance, but he still has the highest approval rating among the country’s other top national government officials. Forty-three (43) percent approve of the vice president’s performance, while Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Chief Justice Reynato Puno got a 36 percent approval rating each. House Speaker Prospero Nograles had an approval rating of 21 percent. The most recent survey was conducted from October 22 to 30 and had 1,800 respondents. The results had +/- 2 percent error margin with a confidence level of 95 percent.
Malacañang belittles ratings Malacañang bristled at the results of Pulse Asia’s latest survey, with deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo saying that the surveys do not represent the Philippine population and are only “opinion-based." “We are more concerned on the results that our efforts have yielded.
Mas mahalaga sa atin kung ano po ‘yong nagiging impact
ng programa ni Pangulong Arroyo
at ng kaniyang administrasyon sa ating mga kababayan," Fajardo said at a press briefing at the Palace. Fajardo, however, admitted that the poor ratings “would really have an impact" on administration bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and other candidates of ruling party Lakas-Kampi (Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino)-CMD in the 2010 polls. Still, she said the candidates’ qualities would still be “the biggest advantage over the other candidates."
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