Davide, Pimentel ratings rise

Metro Manilans’ faith in the political leadership hinges on two key men who will preside over next month’s impeachment trial of President Estrada, according to the latest survey by Pulse Asia Inc.

In Pulse Asia’s Nov. 26 poll, 36 percent of Metro Manila residents expressed faith and confidence in Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr., while 21 percent said the same of Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

The Senate will sit as a jury in the impeachment trial that will be presided over by Davide.

The latest survey follows another poll among residents in the metropolis which indicated record pessimism regarding the country’s leaders.

Mr. Estrada, meanwhile, continued to get a negative rating even though it improved by a percentage point. He obtained a -6 percent mark in the latest poll compared to a -7 percent rating a day earlier.

The President has been under fire for allegedly receiving hundreds of millions of pesos in payoffs from illegal gambling operators kickbacks from tobacco taxes. Calls for his resignation have also mounted in the past weeks, with labor groups and businessmen forming an unusual alliance calling for Mr. Estrada’s ouster.

Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, head of the united opposition, has also been urging the President to step down. Should the President resign, she would be his constitutional successor.

According to Pulse Asia, Arroyo’s trust rating in Metro Manila dipped to -23 on Nov. 26 compared to -20 on Nov. 25.

Former President Corazon Aquino, who has been supporting Arroyo, also got a very low trust rating. Results of the survey showed she received a -4 percent rating from a -3 percent.

Former President Fidel Ramos also acquired such a poor evaluation as he obtained a -12 percent rating.

One of Mr. Estrada’s staunchest critics, Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, fared poorly in the poll as he got a -17 percent rating, while Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, who had accused the Chief Executive of committing graft, received a -34 percent mark.

Earlier, Pulse Asia’s survey showed that Metro Manila residents are fast losing trust in the country’s political leaders and its survey showed the downtrend has broken the record of pessimism that prevailed after the assassination of former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983.

This grim political landscape was presented to reporters by Dr. Felipe Miranda, president of Pulse Asia, when he released portions of a Nov. 7 survey during a press forum.

Without giving the exact figures, Medalla said the previous record of pessimism among Filipinos was in April 1984 or barely a year after Aquino was shot dead on the airport tarmac.

Medalla said this occurred two years before people in Metro Manila rallied against then dictator Ferdinand Marcos along a stretch of highway between Camps Aguinaldo and Crame in what came to be known as the 1986 EDSA people power revolt.

Medalla said the pessimism among people in Metro Manila started sometime between July and October this year after Gov. Singson accused Mr. Estrada of receiving payoffs from jueteng operators.